Looking Up at Tall Towers

Specifically, the Eiffel one.

Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Grab a baguette and your favorite beret, and let’s head to Paris.

Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash

The Eiffel Tower grows up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) in the summer.

This fact seemed fitting since the summer solstice is behind us and we’re officially into summer.

If you’ve ever traveled to Paris (or plan to in the future), you may have visited the Eiffel Tower. It’s one of Paris’s most popular attractions, with an estimated 7 million visitors per year, 75% of whom are tourists.

It’s so popular, in fact, there are replicas around the world. There’s an Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas that also comes with a stylish red Stetson cowboy hat.

When you laid eyes on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, did you think, “Wow, that’s a tall tower?” You’d be correct: It stands 300 meters, or 984 feet high. That height increases to 330 meters (1,083 feet) if you count all the way to the tip.

And if you’re checking out the Eiffel Tower in the summertime, it may be 1,083 feet and six inches tall.

I’d highly recommend clicking on this link to view the science behind it all. That site has a lot of cute illustrations accompanying the facts. They also do my favorite move of drawing a sun with sunglasses. It’s easy, but it WORKS.

Here’s the gist: Heat makes matter expand because the particles are vibrating faster and taking up more space. In the case of the Eiffel Tower, there’s so much space that it boosts the size of the entire tower.

This process is known as Thermal Expansion, which would also be a great name for a rock band.

So, next time you see the Eiffel Tower in the summer, casually remark to the person next to you, “Doesn’t it look 15 centimeters taller today?” Then, you can share your new fun fact with them!

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Fun Fact Friyay is all about brightening your day with a fun fact. The Underdog Newsletter is all about brightening your day with an unheralded story about someone in sports. These are the folks who were perhaps working in a grocery store or going through a wild hardship before finding success in the highest professional leagues.

It’s inspiring, educational, and, much like this newsletter, not overbearing, since there’s only one email per week. Feel free to check it out here, and keep being curious!