DAS14203 PHYSICS II

CHAPTER 1: ELASTICITY

LEARNING OBJECTIVE
The objective of this chapter is to impart students with:
1. The concept of stress and strain.
2. The theory involved in elasticity including Hookes law, Young-,
Shear- , and bulk-modulus.

LEARNING OUTCOME
Students should be able to:
1. Define elasticity and elastic deformation.
2. Draw the stress vs. strain graph
3. identify and explain the degree of elasticity of matter from the
stress-strain graph
4. explain and calculate the tensile, shear and bulk stress and strain
and the related modulus.

OUTLINE
1.1

Stress and Strain

1.2

Stress-Strain Diagram

1.3

Hookes Law

1.4

Youngs Modulus

1.5

Shear Modulus

1.6

Bulk Modulus

1.7

Poissons Ratio

1.1 STRESS AND STRAIN

Stress
- The force F per unit cross-sectional area, A.
- The SI unit: Nm-2 or Pascal (Pa).

Types of
Stress
Tensile stress - stress that tends to stretch or
lengthen the material - acts normal to the
stressed area
Compressive stress - stress that tends to
compress or shorten the material - acts normal
to the stressed area
Shearing stress - stress that tends to shear the
material - acts in plane to the stressed area at
right-angles to compressive or tensile stress

Strain
- The elongation/extension L per unit original length Lo when there is a
distorting force applied on it.

Dimensionless quantity - always unitless

Types of strain:
1) Tensile strain

2) Compressive strain =

 In reality, all object are deformable

Deformation: when an external force is applied onto an object, it will
change in shape or size. This process is known as deformation.
Eg. spring, rubber
Elasticity: If the body returns to original shape or size when the
external force is removed, then it is said to be elastic.
So, elasticity is the ability of an object to regain its shape after
being distorted.
Eg. Rubber can regain its shape if the force that used to compress it is
removed.

EXAMPLE
1:
A load of 5.0 kg hangs from a vertical copper wire of length 2.50 m and cross-sectional
area 1.0 mm2. The extension of the wire is 2.80 mm. Calculate:
a) The stress, and
b) The strain of the copper wire
Solution:
a) Stress, =

= =
= 4.91x107 Nm-2

b) Strain, =

=
= 1.12x10-3

EXAMPLE
2:
An 80 kg lamp is supported by a single electrical copper cable of
diameter d = 3.15 mm. What is the stress carried by the cable?

Solution:

1.2 STRESS-STRAIN DIAGRAM

Note that the

shape of the
stress-strain
diagram and
the values of
Fy and Fu
depend on the
material being
tested.

To measure the
mechanical
properties of any
material

1. Elastic limit the maximum stress a body can experience without

becoming permanently deformed.

2. Yield Point the stress beyond which a material becomes plastic.

3. Ultimate Tensile Strength the capacity of a material or structure to
withstand loads tending to elongate, as opposed to compressive
strength, which withstands loads tending to reduce size.
4. Fracture / Breaking Point beyond this point, the member will split
into two / many pieces.

There are four distinctive regions in the diagram shown.

The first zone is called elastic zone. Within this zone, if the load is
released, the member goes back to its original length. It is also said that the
specimen has elastic behavior.

When the specimen is stretched beyond the elastic limit, it yields. This means
that at its mid-length it becomes fluid or plastic, and it enters the plastic
zone. The stress at which steel yields is called the "yield stress". Within the
plastic zone large changes in length are obtained by only small increases in
the strain. If the sample is released, it will not go back to its original length
and it will sustain a permanent deformation.

The specimen becomes harder to pull when it enters the strain-hardening

zone, where the largest strength (or stress) called ultimate tension tensile
stress (Fu) is reached.

Beyond this point the resistance reduces until the specimen is split into two
pieces (fracture).

1.3 HOOKES LAW

Hooke's law first stated formally by Robert Hooke in The True Theory of Elasticity
or Springiness (1676).
ut tensio, sic vis which can be translated literally into As extension, so force or
translated formally into extension is directly proportional to force (F e)

F=ke

(k=force constant)

Hooke's law below the elastic limit, the restoring force is directly proportional to
the extension.
Can be generalized to Stress is proportional to strain, where strain refers to a
change in some spatial dimension (length, angle, or volume) compared to its original
value and stress refers to the cause of the change (a force applied to a surface).
The coefficient that relates a particular type of stress to the strain that results is
called an elastic modulus (plural, moduli).

EXAMPLE
3:
A wire of diameter 0.91 mm and length 1.50 m is used to support a load of
40 N. If the force constant, k of the wire is 5.68x104 Nm-1, what is the stress
and strain of the wire?
Solution:
To find the extension of the wire, F = ke
40 = (5.68x104)e
e = 7.042x10-4 m
Strain of the wire = e/L
@ L/L
= 7.042x10-4 / 1.50 = 0.469 mm
Stress = F/A
==> area = r = 6.50x10-7 m
= 6.15x107 Nm-2

1.4 YOUNGS MODULUS

Youngs modulus (elastic modulus) Y of a material - the ratio of
longitudinal stress the forces applied normal to opposite faces.
Y =
SI unit - Nm-2 or Pascal (Pa)

Can be deducted from the stress-strain graph

E
Y = gradient

EXAMPLE
5:
A cylindrical brass rod with Youngs modulus 9.7x1010 Pa and original diameter 10.0 mm
experiences elastic deformation when a tensile load of 200 N is applied.
a) Compute the stress that produces the deformation.
b) If the original length of the rod is 0.25 m, calculate the change in the length of the rod.

Solution:
a) Stress =

= 2.5x106 Nm-2

b) Youngs modulus Y =
=

= 6.6x10-6 m

=
=

EXAMPLE
6:
A type of glass has Y of 5x1010 Pa. It breaks when the strain is 4x10-4. A sample of this glass of
thickness d is bent into the shape of an arc of a circle as shown. This causes the glass along
the outer curve to stretch and along the inner curve to compress.

Assuming that the length of arc CC along the centre of the glass remains unchanged, find the
strain at the outer arc AA in terms of radius of curvature r of arc CC, and the thickness d
of the glass.
Hence, deduce the minimum radius of curvature for a piece of glass with the thickness 6
mm that can be bent before breaking.

Solution:

Let
the angle COC = (in radian)
Length of arc CC, s = r
Length of arc AA, s = (r + )
Since (r + ) is the radius of arc AA, then the extension = s s
= (r + ) r =

strain =

=
Breaking strain = 4x10-4 (for d = 6 mm)
= 4x10-4

Hence, r = 7.5 m

QUIZ
A steel rod 2.0 m long has a cross sectional area of 0.30cm 2. The rod is now hung by one end from
a support structure, and a 550 kg milling machine is hung from the rods lower end. Determine the
stress, the strain, and elongation of the rod.
[Ysteel] = 20 x 1010 Pa
(5 marks)

F (550kg)(9.8m / s 2 )
8
Stress

1
.
8

10
Pa
5
2
A
(3.0 10 m )
L Stress 1.8 108 Pa
4
Strain

9
.
0

10
L
E
20 1010 Pa

Elongation L ( Strain) Lo (9.0 10 4 )( 2.0m) 0.0018m

1.5 SHEAR MODULUS

A
force applied tangentially (or transversely or laterally) to the face of an object
is called a shear stress, S=F/A
The deformation that results is called shear strain, S=x/y
The coefficient that relates shear stress to shear strain is called
the shear modulus, S (rigidity modulus)

S=
No change in volume

EXAMPLE
7:
1 cm

A rectangular shaped block of jelly is 12 cm x 12 cm x

4 cm when no force is applied to it. When a tangential
force of magnitude 0.49 N is applied to the upper
surface of the block, the surface is displaced 1 mm
relative to the fixed lower surface as shown in figure.
Compute;
i) The shearing stress,
ii) The shearing strain, and
iii) The shear modulus of the jelly

4 cm

12 cm

Solution:

i)

Stress, = F / A
= = 34.0 Nm-2

ii) Strain, = tan = = 0.25

iii) Shear Modulus, S = / = 136 Nm-2

EXAMPLE
8:

An outdoor sculpture made of brass base plate; experiences shear

forces as a result of an earthquake. The frame is 0.8 m x 0.8 m large
and 0.5 cm thick. How large a force must have been exerted on each
of its edges if the displacement is 0.16 mm? (Sbrass = 3.5 x 1010 Pa)
Solution:
0.8 m

0.8 m

0.5 x 10-2m
F

A (0.8)(0.5 102 )
4 103 m 2
x 0.16 103 m
L 0.8m

F L
A x

F
0.8
4 103 0.16 103
F 2.8 104 N
3.5 1010

1.6 BULK MODULUS

A force applied uniformly over the surface of an object will
compress it uniformly.
This changes the volume of the object without changing
its shape.
The stress in this case is simply described as a pressure
(P=F/A)
The resulting volume strain is measured by the fractional
change in volume (V/V0)
The coefficient that relates stress to strain under uniform
compression is known as the bulk modulus,
B(compression modulus)
B=

EXAMPLE
9:
A hydraulic press contains 0.3 m3 of oil. Find the decrease in
the volume of the oil when subjected to a pressure increase of
P = 2 x107 Pa. (Boil = 5 x 109 Pa)
Solution:

PV
B
V
7
(2

10
)(0.3)
9
5 10
V
V 1.2 10 3 m3

EXAMPLE
10:
In a material testing experiment, a copper specimen is subjected to a change
in pressure of 345 MPa. The volume of the specimen is found to decrease by
0.25%. Determine the bulk modulus of copper.

Solution:
Volume strain, = -0.25%
Bulk modulus, B = -

=- = Hence B = = 1.38E11 Nm-2

EXAMPLE 11 (pass year

exam 2010/2011 Q3 (a)

Solution:

B=V = - (V)

(100 ml)

V = - 0.0714 ml

EXAMPLE 12 (pass year exam 2 2013/2014 Q3

(a)

Answer:
Bwater = Bblood = 2.3x109 Pa,

1 atm. = 1.103x105 Pa (Po pressure at sea level)

a) In term of atm. the bulk modulus of water

B (atm.) = 2.3x109 Pa x = 2.09x104 atm.
Compressibility, k = = = 4.78x10-5 atm.-1
b) The pressure increase by 1.0x104 Pa per meter (1.0x104 Pa/m)
Changes in volume of each cm3???

B = - V = =-

= - 1.43x10-4 cm3

Given Bulk modulus of steel = 16.0x1010 Pa

c)

Density of water = 1000 kgm-3

=- === - 6.14x10-4

Volume of solid steel sphere = r3

= - 6.14x10-4
V = - 3.2x10-4 m3

Absolute pressure
(chapter 2)

1.7 POISSONS RATIO

Poisson's ratio is - the ratio of the relative contraction strain
(or transverse strain) normal to the applied load - to the
relative extension strain (or axial strain) in the direction of
the applied load
Poisson's Ratio can be expressed as

= - t / l
where
= Poisson's ratio
t = transverse strain
l = longitudinal or axial strain
A negative sign is needed to show that the changes are
usually of opposite type (+ extension, vs. contraction).

SUMMARY

Elastic

Moduli

properties

of

materials

Modulus
(symbols)

Stress

Strain

Configuration
Change

Young's
(Y)

Normal to
opposite faces

Length
= L/L0

Longer and thinner

or shorter and fatte
r

Shear
(S)

Tangential to
opposite faces

Tangent
= x/y

Rectangles become
parallelograms

Bulk
(B)

Normal to all faces,

pressure

Volume
= V/V0

Volume changes
but shape does not

Elasticity Moduli