Mercury: expansion with temperature

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the thermal expansion of mercury using a specific calculator. The user is attempting to determine how much mercury will expand by 50 liters when heated from 1°C to 67°C but is receiving unexpected results. They are using a volumetric expansion coefficient of 0.00182, which seems to yield an expansion from 500 liters to 560.06 liters, leading to confusion about the accuracy of this calculation. There is a suggestion that the coefficient used may not be appropriate, as it implies a lesser expansion than anticipated. The conversation highlights the importance of using the correct volumetric expansion coefficient for accurate thermal expansion calculations.
matthewgill
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I have found this fantastic calculator:

http://www.ajdesigner.com/phptherma...pansion_equation_volumetric_volume_change.php

I need to use it to work out how much Mercury I need to expand it by 50 Litres under temperature.

First things first though, i’m getting completely improbable answers out of the calculator because i am entering the wrong 'volumetric expansion coefficent (b)'.

here is what i am entering:

volumetric expansion coefficent (b): .00182
initial volume (Vinitial): 500 Litres
final temperature (Tfinal):67 decC
initial temperature (Tinitial):1 degC

And my results:

500 Litres ---> expands to ---> 560.06 Litres

Is this correct? I was expecting a greater expansion.

Thank you.
 
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That exapansion coefficent is about 2/1000 or 1/500
So about 1l/deg C, and 66degC gives you about 60 extra litres litres
 
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