Hi there it’s Lily here! And today very excitingly we are starting a new series called STEM Scribbles!
We will be sharing incredible and intriguing STEM related facts and info accompanied by one of my little scribbles!
Both myself and Maisie are really passion about science, tech and engineering communication so we hope you enjoy this more SciCom related content!
So what interesting STEM related fact do we have for you today? – read on to find out!
Did you know that the Eiffel Tower grows a little in the summer – approximately 15cm?
- When a substance is heated it expands due to a process called thermal expansion.
- So in the hot sun materials can increase in size and then as the sun sets they can decrease in size.
- When a material is heated, molecular activity increases and the energy stored in the bonds between atoms increases too. With the increase in stored energy, the length of molecular bonds also increases.
- The ratio of expansion and change in temperature is known as the coefficient of thermal expansion of the material. More on exactly how to calculate it this can be found here and here.
- Common engineering materials generally have a constant coefficient of thermal expansion so this expansion doesn’t need to be considered too much during construction.
- However large structures are sometimes built with expansion joints to accommodate the expansion and reduction in size of materials due to change in temperature.
You can find out more information about the iconic and incredible feat of engineering that is the Eiffel Tower here.
Stay tuned for more STEM Scribbles coming soon! And head over to Instagram to see the post and reel in action!
Lily
2 Sisters in STEM
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