coefficient of expansion

noun

, Physics.

1. the fractional change in length, area, or volume per unit change in temperature of a solid, liquid, or gas at a given constant pressure.

coefficient of expansion

noun

1. the amount of expansion (or contraction) per unit length of a material resulting from one degree change in temperature Also calledexpansivity

Word History and Origins

Origin of coefficient of expansion¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

“Adding cobalt, say, to clear glass changes the glass’s coefficient of expansion.”

From Scientific American

This, with a knowledge of the temperature of the screw or scale and its coefficient of expansion, would enable the change of screw-value to be determined at any instant.

From Project Gutenberg

In uniaxial crystals there are two principal coefficients of expansion; the one measured in the direction of the principal axis may be either greater or less than that measured in directions perpendicular to this axis.

From Project Gutenberg

If the coefficient of expansion of these three layers differs, in other121 words, if the glaze does not fit, the result is crazing, that bugbear of the potter.

From Project Gutenberg

The expansion of a gas 1⁄273 of its volume for every degree Centigrade, added to its temperature, is equal to the decimal .00366, the coefficient of expansion for Centigrade units.

From Project Gutenberg