The study of linear thermal expansion in solids is relevant in different fields of physics and engineering, as constructions, in which the thermal expansion may cause irreversible structural damages. Moreover, thermal expansion can be a physical principle for the construction of a thermal sensor device, which can be found in heating or cooling equipment, such as irons and refrigerators. Some methods to measure this phenomenon have been reported in the literature. Although they use different types of sample heating, the method of water vapor is the most used. In this paper we propose heating a sample by electrical heating which leads to more accurate data in a faster way. The device was built with materials of relatively low cost and easy acquisition. In comparison with the results found in the literature, the coefficients of thermal expansion for aluminum, brass, cooper, cement and glass showed a good agreement with available data.
linear thermal expansion; physics laboratory
