Youngs Modulus Experiment

Apparatus:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Micrometer
Meter stick
Wooden Block/ something heavy
Pulley
Weights
Markers

Method
Safety notice: During this experiment there will be large forces involved and a wire under
tension that may snap. If it snaps, the wire may whip back and strike you. You must wear
safety glasses at all times during this experiment.
Measure the diameter of the material using a micrometer screw gauge. Repeat this along
many points in the wire to get reliable results.
Clamp one end of the wire either in between 2 wooden blocks or tie it to a heavy object.
Make sure the string is tight and wont slip. The loop needs to be tight in order to support
heavy weights.
Attach a pulley to the end of the desk and hang the wire over the pulley.
Mark two points on the string and take the measurements of this length and record this in
the table of results.
At the end of the string attach weights starting from 100G.
After every weight is attached ensure to take reading of the extension, this is done by
(original length present length (after weight is attached)).

Taking the original length of the string

Measuring the extension of the string

Continue to increase the load on the wire by increasing the mass m in 0.50 kg steps. For each
load, let the wire settle and the record the extension x. Continue until you have six sets of
readings for m and x.
You should increase the weight and then reduce it again and make several readings to get
reliable results.
Your Diagram should look similar to the one below.

Recording and presenting your data

1 Calculate the cross-sectional area A of the wire using the equation
A = d2
2 Record your values for m and x in a table of results. Include columns for F and for the stress
and the strain, where

F = mg
stress = F / A
strain = x / l

and where g = 9.81 m s-2.

3 Plot a graph of stress (y-axis) against strain (x-axis).

Analysing your data

1 Calculate the gradient of your graph.
2 The Young modulus E of the material of the wire is given by the equation
E = stress / strain.
Use your answer to 1 to determine the Young modulus of the material of the wire.

Graph/ Table

Young's Modulus
7000000
6000000

Stress

5000000
4000000
Series1

3000000

Linear (Series1)

2000000
1000000
0
0

0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 0.0008 0.001 0.0012 0.0014 0.0016 0.0018

Strain / Pa

Conclusion
Therefore Youngs modulus shows us the measure of stiffness of materials. In the
experiment performed above there were few errors firstly the string keeps snapping and this
meant that presented results were not very reliable. It was also very hard to exactly measure
the extension using a meter stick, this is another factor which could be improved to get more
reliable results.