Re: Thermometer - Today's Math Challenge

Stone cut face of outdoor thermometer has...

> > 180° rotational degrees for 130°F temperature change. > > Bimetal thermometer element has... > > 180° rotational degrees for 90°F temperature change. > > Bimetal is 9-1/4 turns (labeled Truflex P675RTM2), inner diameter is > 1/4", outer diameter is 1-1/16" > > How many (partial) turns to remove from outer bimetal to match > physical requirement with bimetal movement ?:-)

I'll take a stab at it.

According to:

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the angular displacement of a spiral bimetalic thermometer in degrees is given by:

angle = (360deg/pi)*(a*L/s)*(t2 - t1)

where:

angle = rotation angle of pointer in degrres a = specific thermal expansion of strip material s = thickness of the bimetal strip L = Length of the bimetallic strip t1,t2 the starting and ending temperatures

We can combine the constants 360deg, pi, a, and s into a single constant, k, and use DT for the temperature range, yielding:

angle = k*L*DT

We can solve this for L:

L = angle/(k * DT)

If we have two lengths, L1 and L2 corresponding to two DT's with the same angular displacement, then:

L2/L1 = DT1/DT2

in this case DT2 = 130F and DT1 = 90F, so the ratio is:

L2/L1 = 9/13

Now we only need to know the initial length, L1.

The formula for the radius of an equally spaced spiral with initial radius R0 and final radius R1 over n turns is:

r(q) = R0 + c*q { q is the angle around the spiral }

where c = (R1 - R0)/(n*2*pi)

We know the initial diameter and final diameter, so In this case we have:

R0 = (1/4) inch / 2 = 3.18 mm R1 = (1-1/16) inch / 2 = 13.49 mm

so that

c = 0.178 mm/radian or 1.22 x 10^-4 inches/degree

The length of the spiral can be found by an approximation formula, or by direct integration. We'll switch to metric for lengths:

L1 = INTEGRAL(0 to n*2pi; R0 + C*Q ; dq)

= R0*n*2*pi + (1/2)*c*(n*2*pi)^2

= 484.389 mm

Now, using the ratio we found previously,

L2 = (9/13)*L1

= 335.35 mm

Length change is:

DL = L2 - L1 = -149.0 mm or 14.9 cm

This corresponds to removing 11.991 radians, or 687 degrees from the outer spiral. That's 1.91 turns.

Seems like a lot to go snipping without confirmation of the method, so as usual, free advice is worth every penny, buyer beware, you get what you pay for, etc., etc. Good luck.

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Greg Neill
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