Coefficient of thermal expansion in the context of "Bimetallic strip"


Coefficient of thermal expansion in the context of "Bimetallic strip"

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⭐ Core Definition: Coefficient of thermal expansion

Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in length, area, or volume, changing its size and density, in response to an increase in temperature (usually excluding phase transitions).In simple words, the change in size of a body due to heating is called thermal expansion. Substances usually contract with decreasing temperature (thermal contraction), with rare exceptions within limited temperature ranges (negative thermal expansion). The SI unit of thermal expansion is inverse Kelvin (1/K).

Temperature is a monotonic function of the average molecular kinetic energy of a substance. In simple words, temperature is the measure of kinetic energy of a body or the measure of hotness or coldness of a body. As energy in particles increases, they start moving faster and faster, weakening the intermolecular forces between them and therefore expanding the substance.When a substance is heated, molecules begin to vibrate and move more, usually creating more distance between themselves.

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👉 Coefficient of thermal expansion in the context of Bimetallic strip

A bimetallic strip or bimetal strip is a strip that consists of two strips of different metals which expand at different rates as they are heated. The different expansion rates cause the strip to bend one way if heated, and in the opposite direction if cooled below its initial temperature. Thus, a bimetal strip converts a temperature change into mechanical displacement. The metal with the higher coefficient of thermal expansion is on the outer side of the curve when the strip is heated and on the inner side when cooled. Common applications include temperature sensing (thermometer) and regulation (thermostat).

The invention of the bimetallic strip is generally credited to John Harrison, an eighteenth-century clockmaker who made it for his third marine chronometer (H3) of 1759 to compensate for temperature-induced changes in the balance spring. Harrison's invention is recognized in the memorial to him in Westminster Abbey, England.

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