2023-07-14 09:30:00
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Can you think of a better vacation plan than traveling to unknown places and sightseeing in different foreign cities? Of course, if you are a fan of adventures, that will be one of the first options you consider when you are presented with a couple of long-awaited days off. However, if you are thinking of going to explore a memorable monument, we have to tell you that depending on whether you do in summer or in winterhis appearance may change to a certain degree and you will find him a little taller than usual.
And it is that, depending on the material with which its structure is designed, it will be more or less sensitive to changes in temperature that occur between the different seasons of the year. So, in hot weather, it will dilate and its size will increase a few centimeters. In fact, it may even lean a few degrees, just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the summer months. Do you want to know how exactly some of the most famous monuments in the world vary and why this phenomenon occurs? We tell you everything.
Video: 5 Spanish UNESCO World Heritage monuments
THERMAL EXPANSION
All matter is made up of atoms: microscopic systems formed by a nucleus and a shell. The central part, the nucleus, is filled with a mixture of small positive charges, the protons, together with others without any type of charge, the neutrons. In addition, it is orbited by a series of negatively charged particles, called electrons. Well, you have to know that these small systems they are never still and they carry out a number of movements: the electrons move around the nucleus, the atom itself rotates, moves… And the most important thing in this case: they are in constant vibration.
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And that vibration is not accidental, but is a direct consequence of the temperature that exists in the environment. If the temperature were 0 degrees Kelvin, that is, -273 degrees Celsius, we would be in a situation known as Absolute zero, and the atom would remain still. However, it is a hypothetical situation since that temperature is not reachable, so our atomic system is always in vibration, so that the more temperature, the more vibration and more movement.
Now, if you imagine a body made up of atoms, for example, a large ball of iron, you can think of how its atoms vibrate at an ambient temperature of 25ºC, giving it its external shape. However, as the temperature rises, for example in summer, its atoms vibrate more and more, taking up more and more space in these movements and needing greater separation between them. Therefore, as it moves apart, the object, the great iron ball, gradually increases in size.
This is exactly what happens with certain monuments in summer: the increase in temperature during the day makes its atoms vibrate more stronglyneeding more space to execute their movements and increasing the size of the structure as a whole.
These are the 5 Spanish UNESCO World Heritage monuments
EXPANDABLE MATERIALS
Now, do not think that by going to see any type of monument you will find that its size is much larger, because not all materials are equally sensitive to thermal changes. All of them expand, yes, but some do so faster and with fewer temperature changes than others. And it is that the ability to increase its vibration speed as the temperature rises depends on the type of atoms that make up each material, being the concrete and iron those who, to a greater extent, present this phenomenon.
Wood is also a type of resource that is very sensitive to temperature changes, however, it does not show obvious expansion with heat. The reason this occurs is that it is a material that presents some high humidity levels, so when the ambient temperature rises, it evaporates, reducing its size. Thus, although the atoms vibrate more, this need for space is compensated by the loss of water molecules through evaporation, maintaining a practically constant size.
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THE EIFFEL TOWER
One of the clearest examples of thermal expansion in monuments is the Torre Eiffel, in Paris. Thus, the great Parisian giant, with 18,038 pieces of iron and 10,100 tons in weight, increases its size during the summer months by up to 15 centimeters.
However, it must be taken into account that the monument is 300 meters high, not counting the antenna on its peak, so the change it is not appreciable to the human eye. Although 15 centimeters can be significant in the height of a person, the step from 300 meters to 300,015 meters is not something appreciable with the naked eye.
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Another very curious feature of this emblematic tower is that it not only increases, but also leans. And it is that, on clear days in which the Sun falls on the same side of the monument throughout the day, the sunny part reaches higher temperatures than the one that remains in the shade, therefore it suffers a greater dilation. The result is that, at the end of the day, the tower has tilted a few degrees towards the opposite side to the Sun, although, as in the previous case, it is not a noticeable fact with the naked eye.
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY
Like its French counterpart, the Statue of Liberty, in New York, is another of the great world exponents of the phenomenon. The structure is made up of iron covered with copper, two materials that are sensitive to changes in temperature and in which expansion is very appreciable.
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Existing data estimates that at an ambient temperature of 20ºC, the Statue of Liberty has an approximate height of 93 m but that, on a hot summer day where thermometers reach values of 35ºC, its structure dilates by almost 24 cm. Again, it’s a considerable increase in the measurements we’re used to, but in this behemoth, it won’t be a noticeable change to the human eye.
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