Passage III

Students in a science class determined the lengths and volumes of solid metal objects having various shapes, compositions, and temperatures.

Study 1

The students completely immersed a cylindrical brass rod in a water bath that was open to the atmosphere. Over the next 10 min, they maintained the temperature of the water bath at 20°C. After the 10 min had elapsed, the students used a micrometer to measure the rod's length, in centimeters (cm), while the rod was still in the water. Next, they increased the temperature of the water bath to 40°C, waited 10 min (while maintaining the water bath's temperature at 40°C), and again measured the rod's length. Similarly, they measured the rod's length at 60°C and at 80°C (see Table 1).

Study 2

The students completely immersed a metal cube in the water bath. Over the next 10 min, they maintained the temperature of the water bath at 20°C. After the 10 min had elapsed, they measured the length of each of the cube's sides while the cube was still in the water and then calculated the volume of the cube, in cubic centimeters(cm³). Following the same procedure, they determined the volume of the cube at 40°C, 60°C, and 80°C (see Table2).

Study 3

The students obtained cubes composed of different metals, each cube having a volume of 125.00 cm³ at 20°C. Following the procedure used in Study 2 for determining the volume of a cube, the students determined the volume of each cube at 60°C (see Table 3).