Thermal Expansion Experiment, PASPORT

Thermal Expansion Experiment, PASPORT

Steam is passed through a hollow, metal tube to increase the temperature of the tube. The side of the tube is pressed against a special adapter pin on the Rotary Motion Sensor. As the metal tube expands, the pin rotates the sensor and the change in length is accurately measured. In addition, the temperature of the tube is measured real-time using a thermistor directly connected to the tube. DataStudio is used to create graphs of temperature vs. time and change in length vs. time. A graph of change in length vs. change in temperature can also be created.

PASCO Advantage:
By using probeware to take measurements for the thermal expansion of a solid, students more clearly understand the relationship between change in temperature and change in length. The traditional method can lead to confusion, since students often use a multimeter to measure the resistance of a thermistor for their calculation of temperature change. The resistance of the thermistor actually decreases as its temperature increases, therefore students could mistakenly believe that change in length and change in temperature are inversely related.

This experiment is available for download at no additional cost.

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