Experiment No: 11

YOUNG’S MODULUS OF A BEAM BY SINGLE CANTILEVER

Aim: To determine Young’s modulus of a beam by single cantilever experiment.

Apparatus: Uniform bar, microscope, slotted weights, screw gauge, vernier calipers.

Theory: Young’s modulus of Elasticity is defined as the ratio of tensile stress to tensile strain.
Tensile stress is applied perpendicular to length. Tensile strain is the ratio of elongation produced to
original length.

Cantilever is a bar of uniform cross section whose length is very much larger than thickness. The
beam is clamped at one end and loaded at the free end. The beam bends under the action of couple
produced by the load. Upper surface of the beam gets stretched and lower surface gets compressed.
The extension is maximum in the upper most filaments and compression is maximum in the lower
most ones. The surface which does not get affected is known as neutral surface. If the bending is
uniform, the longitudinal filaments get bent into circular arcs in planes parallel to the plane of
symmetry (plane of bending).The line of intersection of plane of bending with neutral surface is
called neutral axis.

Procedure:

1. A pin is fixed vertically on the uniform bar at the loaded end.

2. Microscope is focused to the tip of the pin and the reading is recorded.
3. Add weights in step of 20 g up to 100 g and record readings. Similarly, decrease the load in steps
of 20 g and record the readings.
4. Calculate the slope of the line obtained by the graph considering load along x-axis and depression
along y-axis.
5. Young’s Modulus is calculated using the formula

31
 3 4𝑔𝐿3
4MgL3 4𝑔𝐿
Youngs Modulus = = 𝑀 =
bd 3 S 𝑏𝑑3 𝑏𝑑3 (𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒)
𝑆

Observations:

Least count of Microscope = Value of 1MSD / No. of VSD =………….

Reading on the Travelling Microscope TR = MSR + (CVSD X LC)

4𝑔𝐿3 1
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔′𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 = ( )
𝑏𝑑 3 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒

where g is acceleration due to gravity

L = length of the steel beam (m)
b = breadth of the steel beam (m)
d = thickness of the steel beam (m)

Load increasing Load decreasing

Load Mean TR Depression Depression
MSR CVD TR MSR CVD TR
M
(cm) s1(cm) (cm) s2(cm)
(s1+s2)/2 s s
kg (cm) in cm in m
Dead a=
load
b= b-a=
0.02
c= c-a=
0.04
d= d-a=
0.06
e= e-a=
0.08
f= f-a=
0.10
NATURE OF THE GRAPH:

slope = AB/BC
Depression s (in m)

1/ slope = BC/AB

C B

Load M (kg)

RESULT: Young’s modulus of the beam by single cantilever method =_____________________N/m2.

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