The 

bulk modulus ( or ) of a substance is a measure of how resistant to compression that

substance is. It is defined as the ratio of the infinitesimal pressure increase to the
resulting relative decrease of the volume.[1] Other moduli describe the material's response (strain) to
other kinds of stress: the shear modulus describes the response to shear stress, and Young's
modulus describes the response to normal stress. For a fluid, only the bulk modulus is meaningful.
For a complex anisotropic solid such as wood or paper, these three moduli do not contain enough
information to describe its behaviour, and one must use the full generalized Hooke's law. The
reciprocal of the bulk modulus at fixed temperature is called the isothermal compressibility.

The bulk modulus  (which is usually ) can be formally defined by the equation

where  is pressure,  is the initial volume of the substance, and  denotes the derivative of
pressure with respect to volume. Since the volume is inversely proportional to the density, it
follows that
where  is the initial density and  denotes the derivative of pressure with respect to density.
The inverse of the bulk modulus gives a substance's compressibility. Generally the bulk
modulus is defined at constant temperature as the isothermal bulk modulus, but can also be
defined at constant entropy as the adiabatic bulk modulus.

Thermodynamic relation[edit]
Strictly speaking, the bulk modulus is a thermodynamic quantity, and in order to specify a
bulk modulus it is necessary to specify how the pressure varies during compression:
constant-temperature (isothermal ), constant-entropy (isentropic ), and other variations are
possible. Such distinctions are especially relevant for gases.
For an ideal gas, an isentropic process has:
where  is the heat capacity ratio. Therefore, the isentropic bulk modulus  is given by
Similarly, an isothermal process of an ideal gas has:
Therefore, the isothermal bulk modulus  is given by
 .
When the gas is not ideal, these equations give only an approximation of
the bulk modulus. In a fluid, the bulk modulus  and the density  determine
the speed of sound  (pressure waves), according to the Newton-Laplace
formula
In solids,  and  have very similar values. Solids can also
sustain transverse waves: for these materials one additional elastic
modulus, for example the shear modulus, is needed to determine wave
speeds.

Measurement[edit]
It is possible to measure the bulk modulus using powder
diffraction under applied pressure. It is a property of a fluid which shows
its ability to change its volume under its pressure.

Selected values[edit]
Approximate bulk modulus (K) for common materials

Bulk modulus
Material Bulk modulus in Mpsi
in GPa

Diamond (at 4K) [2] 443 64

Alumina[3] 162 ± 14 23.5

Steel 160 23.2

Limestone 65 9.4

Granite 50 7.3
Glass (see also diagram
35 to 55 5.8
below table)

Graphite 2H (single
34 4.9
crystal)[4]

Sodium chloride 24.42 3.542

Shale 10 1.5

Chalk 9 1.3

Rubber[5] 1.5 to 2 0.22 to 0.29

Sandstone 0.7 0.1

 Influences of selected glass component additions on the bulk modulus of a
specific base glass.[6]

A material with a bulk modulus of 35 GPa loses one percent of its

volume when subjected to an external pressure of 0.35 GPa
(~3500 bar).

Approximate bulk modulus (K) for other substances

Water 2.2 GPa (0.32 Mpsi) (value increases at higher pressures)

Methanol 823 MPa (at 20 °C and 1 Atm)

Air 142 kPa (adiabatic bulk modulus [or isentropic bulk

modulus])

Air 101 kPa (isothermal bulk modulus)

Solid heliu
50 MPa (approximate)
m

Microscopic origin[edit]
Interatomic potential and linear elasticity[edit]
 Interatomic potential and force

Since linear elasticity is a direct result of interatomic interaction, it is

related to the extension/compression of bonds. It can then be derived
from the interatomic potential for crystalline materials.[7] First, let us
examine the potential energy of two interacting atoms. Starting from
very far points, they will feel an attraction towards each other. As they
approach each other, their potential energy will decrease. On the other
hand, when two atoms are very close to each other, their total energy
will be very high due to repulsive interaction. Together, these potentials
guarantee an interatomic distance that achieves a minimal energy
state. This occurs at some distance a0, where the total force is zero:
Where U is interatomic potential and r is the interatomic distance.
This means the atoms are in equilibrium.
To extend the two atoms approach into solid, consider a simple
model, say, a 1-D array of one element with interatomic distance of
a, and the equilibrium distance is a0. Its potential energy-interatomic
distance relationship has similar form as the two atoms case, which
reaches minimal at a0, The Taylor expansion for this is:
At equilibrium, the first derivative is 0, so the dominate term is
the quadratic one. When displacement is small, the higher
order terms should be omitted. The expression becomes:
Which is clearly linear elasticity.
Note that the derivation is done considering two
neighboring atoms, so the Hook's coefficient is:
This form can be easily extended to 3-D case, with
volume per atom(Ω) in place of interatomic
distance.

Relationship with atomic

radius[edit]
As derived above, the bulk modulus is directly
related the interatomic potential and volume
per atoms. We can further evaluate the
interatomic potential to connect K with other
properties. Usually, the interatomic potential
can be expressed as a function of distance
that has two terms, one term for attraction and
another term for repulsion.
Where A > 0 represents the attraction term
and B > 0 represents repulsion. n and m
are usually integral, and m is usually larger
than n, which represents short range
nature of repulsion. At equilibrium
position, u is at its minimal, so first order
derivative is 0.
when r is close to, recall that
the n (usually 1 to 6) is
smaller than m (usually 9 to
12), ignore the second term,
evaluate the second
derivative
Recall the relationship
between r and Ω
In many
cases, such
as in metal or
ionic material,
the attraction
force is
electrostatic,
so n = 1, we
have
This
applies to
atoms
with
similar
bonding
nature.
This
relationsh
ip is
verified
within
alkali
metals
and
many
ionic
compoun
ds.[8]