Part 3 of 3
Thermal expansion
identify / explain
Try it yourself
identify: name or select. explain: give reasons and connect them to evidence.
A metal ball, a flask of water at room temperature and the air in a balloon are all warmed (the water not as far as boiling), and then left to cool again. Which statements are correct? Choose all that are correct, then explain what happens to the particles when each one gets bigger.
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Scope and sources
Cambridge IGCSE Physics 0625 · 2026–2028 v2 · Original learning materials.
Gas pressure and changes in it from the motion of particles and their collisions with a surface (2.1.2.3), and pressure as the force of the collisions per unit area (2.1.2.7); the effect on the pressure of a fixed mass of gas of a change of temperature at constant volume and of a change of volume at constant temperature, in particle terms (2.1.3.1); converting between kelvin and degrees Celsius, T (in K) = θ (in °C) + 273 (2.1.3.2); pV = constant at constant temperature, with its graphs (2.1.3.3); thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases at constant pressure, its uses and consequences, and why solids expand least and gases most (2.2.1.1–2.2.1.3). Absolute zero as the temperature of least particle motion and the particle model of matter are in PART01; pressure as force ÷ area and pressure in liquids are in PRES01.
Apparatus, amounts and times in the experiment are illustrative. Real practical work follows a teacher-approved safety method.
Official Cambridge syllabus