Exercise 10.11
The coefficient of volume expansion of glycerine is × . What is the fractional change in its density for a °C rise in temperature ?
NCERT’s answer
0.$\displaystyle 0147$ = $\displaystyle 1.5$ × \(\displaystyle 10^{- 2}\)
Density is inversely tied to volume, so a positive volume-expansion coefficient produces a negative change in density — the object gets bigger, so it gets less dense.The coefficient of volume expansion \(\displaystyle \gamma \) is defined by\[\gamma = \frac{1}{V}\frac{\Delta V}{\Delta T} \]where \(\displaystyle V \) is the original volume and \(\displaystyle \Delta V \) is the change in volume for a temperature rise \(\displaystyle \Delta T \). Rearranging,\[\frac{\Delta V}{V} = \gamma \, \Delta T \]Density is mass over volume, \(\displaystyle \rho = m/V \), and the mass of the glycerine sample does not change as it is heated — only its volume does. Writing the density at the higher temperature as \(\displaystyle \rho' = m/V' \) with \(\displaystyle V' = V(1+\gamma\Delta T) \),\[\rho' = \frac{m}{V(1+\gamma\Delta T)} = \frac{\rho}{1+\gamma\Delta T} \]Since \(\displaystyle \gamma \Delta T \) works out to be small compared with $\displaystyle 1$ (check below), use the binomial approximation \(\displaystyle \dfrac{1}{1+x} \approx 1-x \):\[\rho' \approx \rho\,(1 - \gamma\Delta T) \quad\Rightarrow\quad \frac{\rho' - \rho}{\rho} = \frac{\Delta \rho}{\rho} \approx -\gamma\,\Delta T \]This is the standard result: the fractional change in density is just the negative of the fractional change in volume, because mass stays fixed while volume grows.Now substitute the given numbers. The coefficient of volume expansion for glycerine is
\[\gamma = 49\times10^{-5}\ \text{K}^{-1} \]
and the temperature rise is
\[\Delta T = 30\ ^\circ\text{C} = 30\ \text{K} \]
(a temperature interval of $\displaystyle 30$ °C equals a temperature interval of $\displaystyle 30$ K — the Celsius and Kelvin scales differ only in where zero is set, not in the size of one degree, so no conversion factor is needed here).\[\frac{\Delta \rho}{\rho} \approx -\gamma\,\Delta T = -\left(49\times10^{-5}\ \text{K}^{-1}\right)\left(30\ \text{K}\right) \]\[= -(49\times30)\times10^{-5} = -1470\times10^{-5} = -1.470\times10^{-2} \]Check that the small-quantity approximation was justified: \(\displaystyle \gamma\Delta T \approx 0.0147 \), which is indeed much less than $\displaystyle 1$, so dropping the higher-order term was valid.Both given quantities ($\displaystyle 49$ and $\displaystyle 30$) carry two significant figures, so the answer is rounded to two significant figures:\[\frac{\Delta \rho}{\rho} \approx -1.5\times10^{-2} \]The negative sign says the density decreases — glycerine expands on heating, and with the same mass spread over a larger volume, it becomes about $\displaystyle 1.5$% less dense. Fractional change is a dimensionless ratio (a change per unit of the original quantity), so it carries no unit of its own — only the sign and the magnitude matter here, not a direction in space like a vector would need.Answer: The density decreases by a fractional amount of about \(\displaystyle 1.5\times10^{-2}\) (i.e., it drops by roughly $\displaystyle 1.5$%).