[net.news] does the hole expand when heated?

tino@hou2f.UUCP (A.TINO) (10/29/85)

>Concerning the problem:
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 38

> 
>Does the hole expand when the metal around the hole is heated?
> 
>Try it for yourself!  Here's how...
> 
>[This experiment is given in the 7th grade General Science book published
>by D.C. Heath, 1961.  I used it many times in my former junior high science
>teaching days to prove that metal expands when heated.]
> 
>You need 2 pieces of apparatus:
> 
	>1) loop of 1/4" thick metal, attached to a wooden handle so it can
	   >be held in a flame without burning yourself.
> 
	>2) ball that just fits through the metal loop, attached to a wooden
	   >handle so you can hold it easily.
> 
>Procedure:  Holding the loop by its handle, place the metal end in a flame
	>for a minute or so (We used a gas burner, but even a fireplace will 
	>do).  Then try to fit the ball apparatus through the loop.  You
	>will find that the heated metal has expanded in all directions 
	>(including inward into the space of the hole), making the hole smaller
 	>so that the ball no longer fits through the loop.  Once the loop cools 
	>off, the ball will once again be able to fit through.
> 
>A M A Z I N G !

________________________________________

That would be AMAZING if it were true. I just don't believe it!!!!!

I would believe the following demo: make the ball just a little
too big to fit through the metal ring when the ring is at room
temperature. Now if you heat the ring, it expands --THE HOLE GETS
BIGGER!!! When the ring is hot the ball passes through it easily.

Al Tino