This happens with everyone. This is a world wide problem but what is the reason behind it ? Why our wooden doors not close in winter. In the summer everything is ok, the standard wooden door opens and closes as predicted, but in the winter time it drives us crazy! It just won't close! Seems that it doesn't fit where it belongs. So the question is, what physical processes are standing behind that unfitting?
ANSWER :-
It's actually just that in winters or around that time water doesn't evaporate that fast and humidity is more than summer so absorb more water through humidity. So, the cellulose in the wood expands due to the added water content and swells until it doesn't fit the door frame. (1)
It's really interesting just how beautifully everything plays out in nature. If you think about it that property probably saved a lot of trees from dying. If wood expands in moisture that means the tree will be taller in just the right conditions. It contracts that means the tree will be shorter in just dry conditions. That, probably, reduces the surface area of evaporation and helps the tree to survive. I might be wrong, but it's mind boggling just how awesome nature is. She rocks. :D
(1) Cellulose is a polymer and I guess the expansion might have something to do with hydrogen bonding interacting with it's structure.
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