Question

A steel bridge is 625m long when the temperature is 0◦C. If the bridge did not have any expansion joints, how much longer would the bridge be on a hot summer day when the temperature is 35◦C? (Use the linear co¨efficient of expansion for iron.)

Answer 1

The final length of the bridge will be

$$\Delta L=L_0\alpha \Delta T=650(12·10^{-6})·35=0.26 \text{ m}.$$