I am on the Earth's surface and I want to lift my 1000kg rock up 1m.
I quickly calculate the amount of work required to accomplish this feat:
1000kg * 9.81 m/s2 * 1m = 9800 kg m2/s2 or 9800 joules
thats really not that much work.
i see from...
You're right.
Lets say the rod (height: 1m; top area: 100cm2) is made of steel (thermal expansion coefficient: 0.00001/C at 20C; specific heat capacity: 0.5 kJ/kgC; density: 8g/cm3)
The rock's mass is 1000kg
rod volume = 1m * 100cm2 = 10000cm3
rod mass = 10000cm * 8g/cm3 = 80kg
now...
Experiment 1:
I have a steel rod . I heat the rod to temperature T. As the rod heats up, it expands to length L. This makes me happy.
I let the rod cool down and contract back to its original temperature and dimensions.
Experiment 2:
Now I place a heavy rock on top of the rod, and heat...