Engineering Physics 1 Physics tutorials

Elasticity

Instructions

• Work through the following questions. Section A will be discussed during tutorial
sessions, each student should come having attempted to solve these problems.
• Additional questions are to be attempted by students on their own. A student should
attempt these on their own, the tutor can correct a student after seeing their
attempted solutions. However, solutions might be provided/uploaded on blackboard to
some of the questions.

SECTION A (Questions to be discussed during the tutorial sessions)

1. The length of a spring increases by 2.8 cm when a 20 g mass is suspended from it,
1.1 What is the magnitude of the spring constant?
1.2 How much force is required to increase the spring length by 37.2 mm?

2. A 500 g block is attached to a spring and lies on a horizontal surface, with its other end
attached to the wall. The block is then slid away from the wall, and comes to rest 10.6 cm
from its initial location. Determine magnitude of coefficient of friction between the surfaces
of the block and the floor.

3. During a walk on a rope, tension of 5.6 x 103 N is exerted on a steel wire that is stretched
between two supporting poles that are 18.0 m apart. The wire has a diameter of 0.50 cm
when it is not stretched. When the walker is at the mid-point between the poles, the wire
makes an angle of 4.6° below the horizontal.
3.1 How much does this tension stretch the steel wire when the walker is at
that position?
3.2 By how much does the thickness of the wire change?

4. A 1.0 kg sphere is attached to one end of a 1.0-cm-thick steel wire, whose length is 800 cm.
The wire rotates horizontally at a constant angular speed of 6.3 radians per second. By how
much shall the length of the wire extend during this motion?

5. In a fruit juice factory, a worker completely fills a plastic bottle and closes a cap tightly. When
temperature increases, the juice expands, and its volume increases by 0.16%. Determine
magnitude of force per square centimetre on the bottle.
(Bulk modulus of juice is 1.78 x 109 N /m2)
 6. A 25 kg block (m1) rests on a flat horizontal table. A 10 kg block
(m2) rests on top of it, and has a horizontal spring (k = 325 N.m-1)
attached to it, as shown in the sketch. The coefficient of kinetic m2
friction between m1 and the table is 0.6, while the coefficient of
F
static friction between the two blocks is 0.9. A force, F, is applied m1
to the lower block as shown. The force is increasing in such a
way as to keep the blocks moving at a constant speed. At the
point where the upper block begins to slip on the lower block, determine
1.1 the amount by which the spring is compressed, and
1.2 he magnitude of F.

SECTION B (Additional questions to be attempted by students (a student has to show their

attempt/s before being assisted))

1. One end of steel wire, cross-section = 9.6 × 10-4 m and the length = 32 cm, is fixed to a ceiling, while the
other end is free,
1.1 by how much shall the wire extend?
1.2 Upon the other end having a load of 4.5 kg attached to it, by how much shall it extend?

2. A 1.8 m long steel wire is fixed at one end and has a 25 kg attached at the other end. The
cross-sectional area of the wire is 0.5 mm2. If νsteel = 0.25, determine the wire
2.1 longitudinal strain,
2.2 extension,
2.3 lateral strain,
2.4 lateral compression.

3. A steel piano wire has a diameter of 0.80 mm. At one end it is wrapped around a tuning pin of
diameter 8.0 mm. The length of the wire not including the wire wrapped around the tuning
pin) is 66 cm. Initially, the tension in the wire is 381 N. To tune the wire, the tension must be
increased to 402 N.
3.1 Through what angle must the tuned?
3.2 When the tension is 402 N, what is the tensile stress of the piano wire?
3.3 If the elastic limit of the wire is 8.26 × 1011 N.m-2, what shall happen to the wire if
tension is increased to 410 N

4. A 6.5 kg mass hanging from a spring scale is slowly lowered into a

vertical spring, as shown in the sketch on the right. scale
4.1 What is the reading on the scale just before it touches the
lower spring?
4.2 The scale reads 28 N when the lower spring has been
compressed by 1.5 cm. What is its spring constant?
4.3 Upon the scale reading being 0 N, by how much is the
lower spring compressed?

5. A student conducted an experiment on a wire and observed that there was no change in the
volume of the wire as its length due to it being stretched. What is the Poisson’s ratio of the
wire’s material?
6. A cube, l = 4.5 cm, has a force of 110 N applied parallel, in opposite directions, on two of its
opposite faces. It is observed that each face on which the force is applied, the edge slides by
1.2% from its original position. Determine
6.1 cube deflection angle, and
6.2 shear modulus of the cube.