This is a first draft of this lab discussion. The learning goal of this lab is to confront our normal expectations that we are looking for a specific answer when we make a measurement. In general this may be the goal but the reality is that we are actually defining a range of possibilities for the answer. This is due to the whole gamut of possible difficulties we may encounter in making any measurement.

In the context of this lab we are seeking to understand what we can say about the materials from which a typical bimetal sensor are made. We will be challenged both in making the measurements and in understanding their relationship to the curvature of the bimetal. In this lab you are likely to find that you have a range of possible curvatures that are possible and also a range of temperatures at which ou are making your measurement. While this is potentially frustrating in can also be liberating.

The data range that you establish represents a box on the plot described in the lab. This is sometimes called a solution space (for the same reasons this concept exists in math as well) where the actual behavior of your device must fall within the box somewhere. You will also have a family of curves which describe the predicted behavior of an ideal bi-metal strip for a range of possible linear coefficients of expansion.

You will be asked to reconcile your data and the table of materials to lead you to a suggestion for what you think the bimetal strip is made of.