Peter Bray wrote:

> Does anyone have a value for the coefficient of expansion for honey??  I have
> consulted "Honey" (Crane) and the archives plus general material texts, to no
> avail.

My guess is that because honey is a mixture, it would be difficult to
tabulate any solid numbers since there could be quite a bit of
variability because of moisture content and the sugars involved. Which
is probably why there is difficulty finding any data. Usually
coefficients of thermal expansions are for homogeneous materials, such
as elements, compounds and fixed, measurable mixtures.

Plus, the value of the coefficient of thermal expansion is dependent on
temperature, so there is not one distinct value, except for a specific
temperature. And with some substances, like water, it can go both up and
down over a temperature range (which is why ice floats).

I made a search for sugar solutions and maple syrup and came up with
nothing, including in the CRC Handbook of Chem. and Physics. Unless you
are looking for exact numbers, you might try the values for distilled
water as an approximation. You are talking numbers in the range of 10 to
the minus 4 when using Centigrade so any changes in the liquid state
will be minimal.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Me