Chapter 4.1, Problem 15MS

Tfrain trouble (H). Train tracks are made of metal. Consequently, they expand when its warm and shrink when it cold. When riding in a train, you hear the clickety-clack of the wheels going over small gaps left in the tracks to allow for this expansion. Suppose you were a beginner at laying railroad tracks and forgot to put in the gaps. Instead, you made a track 1 mile long that was firmly fixed at each end. On a hot day, suppose the track expanded by 2 feet and therefore buckled up in the middle, creating a triangle.

Roughly how high would the midpoint be? Now you may appreciate the click-clack of the railroad track.