Steel rails, each 12.0 m long, are laid end-to-end on a winter morning when the…

PHYSICS · Single correct · CBSE · Physics · Thermal Properties of Matter · Thermal Properties of Matter

Problem

Steel rails, each 12.0 m long, are laid end-to-end on a winter morning when the temperature is 15 °C. The highest recorded temperature at the location is 45 °C. If the coefficient of linear expansion of steel is 1.2×10−5 K−11.2\times10^{-5}\,\text{K}^{-1}, the minimum gap to be left between successive rails to prevent buckling on the hottest day is closest to (a) 8.6 mm8.6\ \text{mm} (b) 4.3 mm4.3\ \text{mm} (c) 6.5 mm6.5\ \text{mm} (d) 3.6 mm3.6\ \text{mm}

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