Abstract
THE following simple apparatus for showing the expansion of metals by heat may interest your readers. A cork rests on the table and is kept steady by two horizontal knitting-needles fixed into it. A third knitting-needle fixed in the cork stands in an upright position, and carries a second cork at its top. Another knitting-needle passes through this cork and projects vertically downwards into a glass of water, and carries a third cork at its lower end. This last cork carries a sewing-needle with its point projecting upwards just above the surface of the water. If one of the vertical knitting-needles is heated with a match, the point of the sewing-needle will disappear below the surface of the water; if the other is then heated, the point will appear again. These small movements can be easily seen by watching the reflection of a bright object in the surface of the water.
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DARWIN, H. Expansion of Solids by Heat. Nature 60, 149 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060149d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060149d0
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