ELASTICITY

Elasticity is one of the properties of solid. When

an external force is applied to a solid, its shape is
altered. When the external force is removed, the
restoring force brings the solid back to its
original shape and size. This property is called
the elasticity.
 TENSILE STRESS
Let us consider a uniform rod of a cross-
sectional area A that is at rest. If two equal and
opposite forces F normal to the cross-sectional
are applied such that the equilibrium status of
the rod is unaltered.
The tensile stress is the force per unit area
brought into play when the rod is distorted.
𝐹
𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = −− −(1)
𝐴
 TENSILE STRAIN
Suppose the rod of original length 𝐿0 increases
by an amount ∆𝐿. Experiment shows that for
small extension ∆𝐿, the force is proportional to
the extension. That is,
𝐹 ∝ ∆𝐿 , 𝐹 = 𝑘 ∆𝐿 −−− −(2)
Equation (2) is known as the Hooke’s law.
The tensile strain is defined as the ratio of the
elongation ∆𝐿 to the original length 𝐿0
 ∆𝐿
𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 = −−−−−− −(3)
𝐿0
Let us consider several rods, made of the same
materials, of different lengths and cross-
sectional areas. We apply the same force F to
these rods and determine the various extensions
∆𝐿. It is found that for a given force, the
elongation ∆𝐿 is directly proportional to the
length of the rod.
In other words, for a given force, the longer the
rod, the greater the elongation and the greater
the cross-sectional area the smaller the
elongation. Thus,
𝐹 𝐿0
∆𝐿 ∝
𝐴
1 𝐹
or ∆𝐿 = 𝐿0 −−−−−−−(4)
𝑌 𝐴
Where Y is a constant known as elastic modulus
or Young’s modulus.
The Young’s modulus of a material depends on
the nature of the material and independent of
the dimensions of the objects.
𝐹
𝐴
𝑌= ∆𝐿 −−−−− −(5)
𝐿0
𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
𝑌=
𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
 Examples
1. A mass of 10 kg is suspended from the end of
a steel rod of length 2m and radius 1 mm.
What is the elongation of the rod beyond its
original length?
SOLUTION
The normal force or the tensile force applied to
cross-sectional area is the weight of the mass.
∴ 𝐹 = 10 9.8 N = 98 𝑁
The cross-sectional area 𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 2
𝐴 = 𝜋 1 𝑚𝑚 2
98 𝑁
The tensile stress 𝑠𝑛 =
3.14 × 10−6 𝑚2
= 3.12 × 10 𝑁𝑚−2 7

∆𝐿 𝑠𝑛 3.12 × 107
The tensile strain, 𝑒𝑙 = = =
𝐿0 𝑌 200 × 109
−4
= 1.56 × 10
∆𝐿 = 𝑒𝑙 𝐿0 = 1.56 × 10−4 2
= 3.12 × 10−4 𝑚
. Assume that Young’s modulus for bone is
1.5 × 1010 𝑁𝑚−2 and that bone will fracture if
stress is greater than 1.5 × 108 𝑁𝑚−2 is imposed
on it.
(a) What is the maximum force that can be exerted
on the femur bone in the leg if it has an effective
diameter of 2.50 cm?
(b) If this much force is applied compressively, by
how much does the 25.0 cm long bone shorten?
 SOLUTION
𝐹 𝐹
(a) 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = =
𝐴 𝜋𝑟 2
𝑑2
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝜋
4
−2 2
2.5 × 10
= 1.5 × 108 𝜋
4
= 73.6 𝑘𝑁
∆𝐿
(b) 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = 𝑌
𝐿0
 𝐿0 8
0.25
∆𝐿 = 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = 1.5 × 10
𝑌 1.5 × 1010
= 2.50 𝑚𝑚
Exercise
1. A 30.0 kg hammer strikes a steel spike 2.30
cm in diameter while moving with speed 20 m/s.
The hammer rebounds with speed 10 m/s after
0.110 s. What is the average strain in the spike
during the impact? 9.85 × 10−5
Plot of stress versus strain

Stress 𝑆𝑛

Fig. 1 Strain 𝑒𝑙
The portion OB of the curve in Fig.1 is linear. In
this region, the material completely returns to
its original length when the applied stress is
removed. This region is known as elastic region
and the point B is the elastic limit. Beyond this
limit there occurs the yield point, it is the point
at which there is large increase in strain with
little or no change in stress. The material is said
to undergo plastic flow.
With further increase in strain the curve attains
a maximum at E, which represents the
maximum or ultimate strength of the material.
The material will rupture at point F and is known
as the breaking point.
 Elastic Energy in Deformed Materials
When a spring is compressed or stretched, work
is done by the applied force. This work is stored
in the spring in the form of elastic potential
energy which is released when the spring
returns to its equilibrium position. The
expression for the energy is given by:
1
𝑈𝑎 = 𝑘𝑥 2
2
Where k is the spring constant and x is the
displacement from the equilibrium position.
The applied force to the spring is given by
Hooke’s law:
𝐹𝑎 = 𝑘𝑥 −− −(5)
𝐹𝑎 is a tensile force applied to the spring. The
spring is a material under normal stress. The
expression for the tensile force is obtained from
equation (4). Thus,
∆𝐿
𝐹𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 = 𝑌𝐴
𝐿0
The elongation ∆𝐿 in equation (2) is equivalent to x , the
displacement from the equilibrium position in equation
(5). Since 𝐹𝑎 and 𝐹𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 are equivalent, equation (2) is
equated to equation (5). Thus,
𝐹𝑎 = 𝐹𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒
∆𝐿
𝑘 ∆𝐿 = 𝑌𝐴
𝐿0
𝑌𝐴
𝑘=
𝐿0
The elastic potential energy can be expressed in terms of
Y and 𝑒𝑙 .
 1 2
𝑈𝑒𝑙 = 𝑘 ∆𝐿
2
1 𝑌𝐴
= ∆𝐿 2
2 𝐿0
1
= 𝑌𝐴𝑒𝑙 ∆𝐿
2
Example
1. A chick forces open its shell with an elastic material called
abduction whose elastic modulus is about 2 × 106 𝑁𝑚−2 . If
this piece of abduction is 3.0 mm thick and has a cross-
sectional area of 0.5 𝑐𝑚2 , how much potential energy does it
store when compressed by 1.0 mm ?
 SOLUTION
The energy stored by the material is equal to the
work done in compressing it by 1.0 mm.
1 𝑌𝐴 2
𝑈𝑒𝑙 = ∆𝐿
2 𝐿0
2
1 2 × 106 0.5 × 10−4 1 × 10−3
=
2 3 × 10−3
−2
= 1.67 × 10 𝐽
 Bulk Modulus
For a liquid or gas, the quantity we can possibly
use for the study of its elastic property is its
volume because we cannot conveniently take a
length as in the case of a solid. When a volume
is subjected to an external force, a bulk pressure
∆𝑃 is generated on it. As the pressure increases,
the whole volume contracts. We can talk of bulk
strain which is defined as change in volume ∆𝑉
divided by the original volume V.
 ∆𝑉
That is, Bulk strain =
𝑉
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
Bulk modulus =
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
−∆𝑃
= ∆𝑉
𝑉
𝑑𝑃
= −𝑉
𝑑𝑉
The minus sign is due to the fact that there is a
reduction in volume for an increase in pressure.
For a gas, Boyle’s law is obeyed. That is, PV =
constant, or
𝑃𝑑𝑉 + 𝑉𝑑𝑃 = 0
𝑑𝑃
𝑃= −𝑉 =𝐾
𝑑𝑉
That is, pressure is equal to bulk modulus for a gas
at constant temperature. That is why high pressure
inflation of a ball makes it hard to compress i.e.
high bulk modulus. The velocity of sound waves in a
gas can be shown to be equal to
 𝐾
𝑣=
𝜌

Where 𝜌 is the density.

Examples
1. How much pressure is needed to compress
the volume of iron block by 0.11 % ? ( Bulk
modulus of iron is 90 × 109 𝑁𝑚−2 )
 SOLUTION
−∆𝑃
Using 𝐾 = ∆𝑉
𝑉
∆𝑉
∆𝑃 = −𝐾
𝑉
9 0.11
= 90 × 10
100
= 9.9 × 107 𝑁𝑚 −2

2. The deepest point in an ocean is in the trench

which is about 11 km deep. The pressure at this
depth is 1.13 × 108 𝑁𝑚−2 .
(a) Calculate the change in volume of 1.0 𝑚3
carried from the surface to this deepest point in
the Pacific ocean.
(b) The density of sea water at the surface is
1.03 × 103 𝑘𝑔𝑚−3 . Calculate its density at the
bottom. ( Bulk modulus of water is 0.21 ×
1010 𝑁𝑚−2 )
 SOLUTION
∆𝑃
(a) 𝑈𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 ∆𝑉 = −𝑉
𝐾
1.13 × 108 1.0
=−
0.21 × 1010
3
= −0.0538 𝑚
(b) The quantity of water with mass 1.03 ×
103 𝑘𝑔 occupies volume at the bottom
1.0 𝑚3 − 0.0538 𝑚3 = 0.946 𝑚3
 1.03 × 103
So its density =
0.946
= 1.09 × 103 𝑘𝑔𝑚−3
Exercise
When water freezes, it expands by about 9%.
What pressure increase would occur in an
automobile engine block if the water in it froze?
Bulk modulus of ice =
2.0 × 109 𝑁𝑚−2 ( 𝐴𝑛𝑠. 1.65 × 108 𝑁𝑚−2 )
 Modulus of Rigidity
When a deformation in shape of a solid is
produced without a change in volume, the
deformation is called a shear and the associated
modulus is called shear modulus or modulus of
rigidity. A rigid body with a very high shear
modulus is a body whose shape cannot be easily
altered. When a force F is applied to the top of a
rectangular surface of a block, the vertical
surface is distorted to a parallelogram. This is
shown below.
Fig 1. A shearing Force on a Block
 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
The shearing stress =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒

𝑥
The shearing strain = = ∅
𝐿
The shearing strain is sometimes defined as the
angular displacement between any two planes.
𝐹
𝐹𝐿
Modulus of rigidity , 𝜂 = 𝐴
𝑥 =
𝑥𝐴
𝐿
 Examples
1. An iron wire of diameter 0.8 cm and length 3
m is fixed at both ends so that it cannot expand
and then it is heated from 100 to 1000 𝐶.
Calculate the force exerted on each end of the
wire if 𝑌 = 2 × 1011 𝑁𝑚−2 and 𝛼 = 18 ×
10−6 𝐾 −1
 SOLUTION
The extension prevented is given by: 𝑒 = 𝑙0 𝛼∆𝑡
and the force generated is
𝑌𝐴𝑒
𝐹= = 𝑌𝐴𝛼∆𝑡
𝑙0
= 2 × 1011 × 𝜋 0.4 × 10−2 2
× 10−6 × 100 − 10
= 163𝑁
2. A horizontal aluminium rod 4.8 cm in
diameter projects 5.3 cm from a wall. A 1200 kg
object is suspended from the end of the rod.
The shear modulus of aluminium is 3.0 ×
1010 𝑁𝑚−2 . Neglecting the rod’s mass, calculate
(a) The shear stress on the rod and
(b) The vertical deflection of the end of the rod.
 SOLUTION
𝐹 𝑚𝑔 1200 9.8
(a) Shear stress = = 2=
𝐴 𝜋𝑟 𝜋 0.024 2
6.5 × 106 𝑁𝑚−2
𝐹
𝐴
(b) Modulus of rigidity, 𝜂 = 𝑥
𝐿
L = protrusion of the rod = 5.3 cm
x = vertical deflection at its end
𝐹
𝐿 6.5 × 10 6
0.053
𝑥= 𝐴 = = 1.1 × 10 −5
𝑚
𝜂 3 × 10 10