Thermal Expansion Coefficients For Various Materials
This section summarizes the coefficients for some common materials.
In the table below, the range for α is from 10−7/°C for hard solids to 10−3/°C for organic liquids. α varies with the temperature and some materials have a very high variation.
For isotropic materials the coefficients linear thermal expansion α and volumetric thermal expansion β are related by β = 3α. For liquids usually the coefficient of volumetric expansion is listed and linear expansion is calculated here for comparison.
(The formula β≈3α is usually used for solids.)
| Material | Linear coefficient, α, at 20 °C (10−6/°C) |
Volumetric coefficient, β, at 20 °C (10−6/°C) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | 23.1 | 69 | |
| Benzocyclobutene | 42 | 126 | |
| Brass | 19 | 57 | |
| Carbon steel | 10.8 | 32.4 | |
| Concrete | 12 | 36 | |
| Copper | 17 | 51 | |
| Diamond | 1 | 3 | |
| Ethanol | 250 | 750 | |
| Gallium(III) arsenide | 5.8 | 17.4 | |
| Gasoline | 317 | 950 | |
| Glass | 8.5 | 25.5 | |
| Glass, borosilicate | 3.3 | 9.9 | |
| Gold | 14 | 42 | |
| Indium phosphide | 4.6 | 13.8 | |
| Invar | 1.2 | 3.6 | |
| Iron | 11.8 | 33.3 | |
| Kapton | 20 | 60 | DuPont Kapton 200EN |
| Lead | 29 | 87 | |
| Macor | 9.3 | ||
| Magnesium | 26 | 78 | |
| Mercury | 61 | 182 | |
| Molybdenum | 4.8 | 14.4 | |
| Nickel | 13 | 39 | |
| Oak | 54 | Perpendicular to the grain | |
| Douglas-fir | 27 | 75 | radial |
| Douglas-fir | 45 | 75 | tangential |
| Douglas-fir | 3.5 | 75 | parallel to grain |
| Platinum | 9 | 27 | |
| PVC | 52 | 156 | |
| Quartz (fused) | 0.59 | 1.77 | |
| Quartz | 0.33 | 1 | |
| Rubber | 77 | 231 | |
| Sapphire | 5.3 | Parallel to C axis, or | |
| Silicon Carbide | 2.77 | 8.31 | |
| Silicon | 3 | 9 | |
| Silver | 18 | 54 | |
| Sitall | 0.15 | 0.45 | |
| Stainless steel | 17.3 | 51.9 | |
| Steel | 11.0 ~ 13.0 | 33.0 ~ 39.0 | Depends on composition |
| Titanium | 8.6 | ||
| Tungsten | 4.5 | 13.5 | |
| Water | 69 | 207 | |
| YbGaGe | ≐0 | ≐0 | |
| Zerodur | ≈0.02 | at 0–50°C |
Read more about this topic: Thermal Expansion
Famous quotes containing the words expansion and/or materials:
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)
“What is most interesting and valuable in it, however, is not the materials for the history of Pontiac, or Braddock, or the Northwest, which it furnishes; not the annals of the country, but the natural facts, or perennials, which are ever without date. When out of history the truth shall be extracted, it will have shed its dates like withered leaves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)