With the name of dilatation is known to volume expansion process that certain elements or bodies undergo, generally as a consequence of a change in temperature.
It's about a physical process that acquires different magnitudes in solids, liquids and gases. Sometimes these changes are minimal and imperceptible, others are clearly evident.
It must be said that the expansion produced by the action of temperature is called thermal expansion, and it is not the only one that occurs in nature.
The process that occurs in a woman's cervix during childbirth is also known as dilatation; the enlargement of the cervix enables the baby to come out.
By extension, the word applies figuratively to any situation that lasts longer than expected.
But it is worth dwelling on the concept of thermal expansion. The explanation for this process lies in the fact that all bodies are made up of particles, and when these bodies increase in temperature, the particles move faster, so they need more space, hence they increase their volume.
Not all bodies respond in this way, and many do by restricting the effect, that is, lowering the temperature, is what is called thermal shrinkage.
Considering the possible increase in volume of certain bodies is essential since this expansion can generate breaks and even serious accidents, for example, in the case of bridges or pipes.
It was previously said that dilation is a process that occurs both in the solid bodies such as liquids and gases. The property of bodies that acts against dilation is that of cohesion between particles, which is more intense in solids.
Therefore, in solids it is where the expansion is less evident, but nevertheless it occurs. Each solid material has a different expansivity, which indicates how much the volume will increase. Ice is one of those that shows the greatest tendency to dilation.
The dilation in fluids it is also produced with different intensities, but in any case it is more evident than that of solids.
Finally, the gas expansion It is the most obvious, and the intensity of the expansion is the same for all gases at a given pressure.
Some examples of temperature expansion are given:
- The expansion that occurs in rubber tires
- A zinc sheet will dilate if exposed to the sun
- The measuring tapes (producing measurement errors)
- The piping systems
- The cracking of a marble container when adding a hot liquid
- The power lines cables
- The increase in volume by freeze water inside a bottle
- Parquet floors that get up because of the heating
- The roads asphalt, which can crack
- The biggest job to open a wet door
- The eye pupil, which, exposed to different luminosities, expands or contracts
- The expansion that the heat oil
- The biggest job to open a door exposed to the sun
- The metal framed windows need rubber spacers
- The bubble expansion when you open a soda bottle
- The expansion joints in the train tracks
- The cracking of tiles, on certain occasions
- The processes that affect mercury from thermometers
- The possibility that a glass cup will burst if very hot water is placed in it
- Diseases caused by dilation of the heart
It can serve you: Examples of Thermal Shrinkage
