# Linear Thermal Expansion of Nickel **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264 "2006-12-07T20:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/1 "2006-12-07T20:39:11Z")
Not quite sure how to express this question, but can anyone tell me how much larger a 1 micron feature on a pure nickel substrate at 20C will be when the substate temp is raised to 55C? Can this be expressed as a percentage - that is, expect features to change by X% when substrate is raised in temp from 20 to 55C? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/2 "2006-12-07T20:55:16Z")
[QUOTE=Fritz] Not quite sure how to express this question, but can anyone tell me how much larger a 1 micron feature on a pure nickel substrate at 20C will be when the substate temp is raised to 55C? Can this be expressed as a percentage - that is, expect features to change by X% when substrate is raised in temp from 20 to 55C? [/QUOTE] According to [www.matweb.com](http://www.matweb.com), the linear thermal expansion coefficient of pure nickel is 13.1 µm/m-°C. With a delta T of 35C, that gives 458.5 µm/m, or .0459%. The 1 micron feature would expand to 1.0459 microns. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/3 "2006-12-07T20:57:03Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion_coefficient) says linear thermal expansion coefficient of nickel is **13 x 10[sup]-6[/sup] /K** at 20[sup]o[/sup]C. That means raising the temperature by 35K will expand it by 35 x (13x10[sup]-6[/sup])=4.6x10[sup]-4[/sup]=0.046%. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/4 "2006-12-07T20:59:39Z")
[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger] … .0459%. The 1 micron feature would expand to 1.0459 microns. [/QUOTE] I think you mean 1.000459 microns. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/5 "2006-12-07T21:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger] According to [www.matweb.com](http://www.matweb.com), the linear thermal expansion coefficient of pure nickel is 13.1 µm/m-°C. With a delta T of 35C, that gives 458.5 µm/m, or .0459%. The 1 micron feature would expand to 1.0459 microns. [/QUOTE] Wow, that’s great - thanks! That’s my problem, I found the CTE of pure nickel on the web, but I had no idea how to use the value. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/6 "2006-12-07T22:34:51Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] I think you mean 1.000459 microns. [/QUOTE] No, I meant 1.000459 microns. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linear-thermal-expansion-of-nickel/383264/7 "2006-12-08T02:24:00Z")
You are asking about a tiny feature, only a micrometer. Everything scales linearly so if you weren’t going to worry about whether a 3" bolt at room temperature is still a 3" bolt sitting on a hot car dashboard, you also can neglect whether the feature has changed size. Its being small doesn’t make it more sensitive to thermal expansion. Of course I am trying to guess why you are asking. What are you doing, anyway? Calibrating an SEM or something?