A metal ball is just able to pass through a metal ring. When the ball is heated, however,...?

Question

it will not pass through the ring. What would happen if the ring, rather than the ball, were heated? Does the size of the hole increase, stay the same, or decrease?

Answer 1

i just looked it up, and found a site selling the ball and ring set, and their answer is that the entire ring would expand, thus the hole would as well - "think of a photograph".  this makes sense, but perhaps with a ring of a different shape this would not be the case?

Answer 2

Increase

had the same physics question back when I was in school :)

Answer 3

Since when something is heated it expands.... so yes technically speaking if you heated the ring then the hole would get bigger.

Answer 4

I see some believe it would expand outwards, but a lot depends on the ring itself. For example, if it were to be a large thick ring, it may expand inwards making the whole smaller. For example if you had a sheet of metal with a whole in it, thus creating a "ring" but with excess metal, and were to heat it, it may cause the tiny hole to disapear or shrink. However if it were a thin piece of metal shaped into a ring it may simply expand outwards causing the size of the hole to increase. Most likely the hole with grow larger allowing the ball to go threw. This is all much like the hardening method of creating swords, how they place hot metal swords in ice water to condense the metal create a sturdy sword. Thanks

Answer 5

The size of the hole in the ring will increase.

Answer 6

technically, the ring itself would expand on all sides, so in theory, yes, the hole should get bigger, but in practice, im guessing that because it will be heated on all sides, it will expand on all sides, thus the metal ring would become thicker, and wider across from the ouer edges of each side, which does not necesarily mean that the hole would get any bigger, in fact it might even get smaller.

Answer 7

heat makes things expand, so if the ring is heated, the hole would expand, if the ball is heated, it would expand

Answer 8

The hole of the ring increases in size when heated.

Answer 9

Metal expands when heated, so if the metal ring expands, the hole will get smaller...think about it, if the metal swells up, the hole will get smaller (or at least that's how it works with musical instruments...the hotter the metal is, the hole closes up and the pitch gets sharper)

Answer 10

the size of the hole in the ring would not increase it would decrease come on guys use your HEAD

the metal expands or swells therefore the hole gets smaller