Question

How large an expansion gap should be left between steel railroad rails if they may reach a maximum temperature 35.0ºC greater than when they were laid? Their original length is 10.0 m.

a) (3.5 cm)
b) (7.0 cm)
c) (10.5 cm)
d) (14.0 cm)

Answer 1

The expansion gap between steel railroad rails should be 4.2 cm.

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to determine the size of the expansion gap between steel railroad rails, we need to calculate the change in length due to the increase in temperature. We can use the equation for linear thermal expansion, which is ΔL = aLΔT, where ΔL is the change in length, a is the coefficient of linear expansion for steel, L is the original length, and ΔT is the change in temperature.

Given that the original length is 10.0 m and the maximum temperature increase is 35.0°C, we can calculate the change in length as follows:

ΔL = (12 × 10-6 °C) * (10.0 m) * (35.0°C) = 0.0042 m = 4.2 cm

Therefore, the expansion gap that should be left between steel railroad rails is 4.2 cm.