9–5 Elasticity; Stress and Strain

In the first part of this Chapter we studied how to calculate the forces on objects
in equilibrium. In this Section we study the effects of these forces: any object
changes shape under the action of applied forces. If the forces are great enough,
the object will break, or fracture, as we will discuss in Section 9–6.

Elasticity and Hooke’s Law

If a force is exerted on an object, such as the vertically suspended metal rod
shown in Fig. 9–18, the length of the object changes. If the amount of elongation,
¢l, is small compared to the length of the object, experiment shows that ¢l is
proportional to the force exerted on the object. This proportionality can be written
as an equation:
Δl
F = k ¢l. (9;3) B
mg
Here F represents the force pulling on the object, ¢l is the change in length, and k
is a proportionality constant. Equation 9–3, which is sometimes called Hooke’s law† m
after Robert Hooke (1635–1703), who first noted it, is found to be valid for almost
any solid material from iron to bone—but it is valid only up to a point. For if the FIGURE 9–18 Hooke’s law:
force is too great, the object stretches excessively and eventually breaks. ¢l r applied force.
Figure 9–19 shows a typical graph of applied force versus elongation. Up to a
point called the proportional limit, Eq. 9–3 is a good approximation for many common
FIGURE 9–19 Applied force vs.
materials, and the curve is a straight line. Beyond this point, the graph deviates from elongation for a typical metal under
a straight line, and no simple relationship exists between F and ¢l. Nonetheless, tension.
up to a point farther along the curve called the elastic limit, the object will return
Ultimate strength
to its original length if the applied force is removed. The region from the origin
Proportional limit n
to the elastic limit is called the elastic region. If the object is stretched beyond egio
Plastic r
the elastic limit, it enters the plastic region: it does not return to the original length

Force, F
upon removal of the external force, but remains permanently deformed (such as Elastic Breaking

ion
a bent paper clip). The maximum elongation is reached at the breaking point. The limit point

reg
maximum force that can be applied without breaking is called the ultimate strength

stic
of the material (actually, force per unit area, as we discuss in Section 9–6).

Ela
Elongation, Δ l
Young’s Modulus
The amount of elongation of an object, such as the rod shown in Fig. 9–18,
depends not only on the force applied to it, but also on the material of which it is
made and on its dimensions. That is, the constant k in Eq. 9–3 can be written in
terms of these factors.
If we compare rods made of the same material but of different lengths and
cross-sectional areas, it is found that for the same applied force, the amount of
stretch (again assumed small compared to the total length) is proportional to the
original length and inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area. That is,
the longer the object, the more it elongates for a given force; and the thicker it is,
the less it elongates. These findings can be combined with Eq. 9–3 to yield
1 F
¢l = l , (9;4)
EA 0
where l0 is the original length of the object, A is the cross-sectional area, and ¢l is the
change in length due to the applied force F. E is a constant of proportionality‡ known
as the elastic modulus, or Young’s modulus; its value depends only on the material.
†
The term “law” applied to this relation is historical, but today it is not really appropriate. First of all,
it is only an approximation, and second, it refers only to a limited set of phenomena. Most physicists
today prefer to reserve the word “law” for those relations that are deeper and more encompassing
and precise, such as Newton’s laws of motion or the law of conservation of energy.
‡
The fact that E is in the denominator, so 1兾E is the actual proportionality constant, is merely a
convention. When we rewrite Eq. 9–4 to get Eq. 9–5, E is found in the numerator.

SECTION 9–5 Elasticity; Stress and Strain 241

 The value of Young’s modulus for various materials is given in Table 9–1 (the
shear modulus and bulk modulus in this Table are discussed later in this Section).
Because E is a property only of the material and is independent of the object’s size
or shape, Eq. 9–4 is far more useful for practical calculation than Eq. 9–3.

TABLE 9–1 Elastic Moduli

Young’s Modulus, Shear Modulus, Bulk Modulus,
Material E (N Ⲑm2 ) G (N Ⲑm2 ) B (N Ⲑm2 )
Solids
Iron, cast 100 * 109 40 * 109 90 * 109
Steel 200 * 109 80 * 109 140 * 109
Brass 100 * 109 35 * 109 80 * 109
Aluminum 70 * 109 25 * 109 70 * 109
Concrete 20 * 109
Brick 14 * 109
Marble 50 * 109 70 * 109
Granite 45 * 109 45 * 109
Wood (pine) (parallel to grain) 10 * 109
(perpendicular to grain) 1 * 109
Nylon L3 * 109
Bone (limb) 15 * 109 80 * 109
Liquids
Water 2.0 * 109
Alcohol (ethyl) 1.0 * 109
Mercury 2.5 * 109
Gases†
Air, H 2, He, CO2 1.01 * 105
†
At normal atmospheric pressure; no variation in temperature during process.

EXAMPLE 9;10 Tension in piano wire. A 1.60-m-long steel piano wire has
a diameter of 0.20 cm. How great is the tension in the wire if it stretches 0.25 cm
when tightened?
APPROACH We assume Hooke’s law holds, and use it in the form of Eq. 9–4,
finding E for steel in Table 9–1.
SOLUTION We solve for F in Eq. 9–4 and note that the area of the wire is
A = pr2 = (3.14)(0.0010 m)2 = 3.14 * 10–6 m2. Then
¢l
F = E A
l0
0.0025 m
= A2.0 * 1011 N兾m2 B a b A3.14 * 10–6 m2 B
1.60 m
= 980 N.
NOTE The large tension in all the wires in a piano must be supported by a
strong frame.

EXERCISE E Two steel wires have the same length and are under the same tension. But
wire A has twice the diameter of wire B. Which of the following is true? (a) Wire B
stretches twice as much as wire A. (b) Wire B stretches four times as much as wire A.
(c) Wire A stretches twice as much as wire B. (d) Wire A stretches four times as much as
wire B. (e) Both wires stretch the same amount.

242 CHAPTER 9 Static Equilibrium; Elasticity and Fracture