Understanding Thermal Expansion: Effects of Cutting and Heating Metal Sheets

[Dell]

if i have a metal sheet and i cut a hole in its center, and heat the sheet, will the hole grow larger or smaller?? (knowing that the material has a positive therml expansion)?

i know that the metal wants to expand, but in which direction,
??
i would think it would grow smaller but that's just intuition. can someone please explain this to me

 

[Lok]

It will get larger as the expansion is uniform and to the outside. Think of it as a ring with a ring around it and so on to about 100 rings. if you heat them up they will all expand and grow in size and their connections ( the surface where 2 of them touch) will not be broken.