FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES

 
PY142: ENGINEERING PHYSICS - I

Experiment 3
Determination of Young’s modulus by bending of beam
Experiment : Determination of Young’s modulus
by bending of beam
Objectives:
To determine Young’s modulus of elasticity of the material of a given wire.

Apparatus:
Young’s modulus set up, Galvanometer, Metal bar, 1 kg hanger
Pictorial Diagram Young’s modulus Set up
 Young’s Modulus
Young’s modulus is named after Thomas Young,
19th century, British scientist.

In solid mechanics, Young’s modulus is defines as

the ratio of the longitudinal  stress over
longitudinal strain, in the range of elasticity  the
Hook’s law holds (stress is directly proportional to
strain). It is a measure of stiffness of elastic
material.

If a wire of length L and area of cross-section 'a'

be stretched by a force F and if a change Thomas Young
(increase) of length 'l' is produced, then
 Young’s Modulus
 Strain: Strain is a measure of the amount of the deformation.
or
When external force is applied on a body its length, volume, or shape changes, it is
called strain.

Stress: Stress is the force per unit area causing a deformation.

 Stress is proportional to strain with the constant of proportionality depending on the
material being deformed and on the nature of the deformation.

Hooke’s law: For small deformation to stress and strain are directly proportional to each
other.
Stress α Strain
Stress(σ) = Constant x Strain(ε)
= Elastic modulus (Hooke’s law)
 
The stiffness of a material: A material having a large elastic modulus is very stiff
and difficult to deform.

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Young’s Modulus

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 Young’s Modulus
 The simplest elastic behaviour to understand is the stretching of a bar, rod, or wire when its ends
are pulled. An object initially has uniform cross-sectional area A and length l0. Then we apply forces
of equal magnitude Fγ but opposite directions at the ends (We say that the object is in tension).
𝐹
Tensile stress = (SI unit: 1 Pa = 1 N/m2)
A

When under tension and after stretching, the object length l = l0 + Δl. The elongation Δl does
not occur only at the ends; every parts of the object stretch. The tensile strain of the object is equal
to the fractional change in length, which is the ratio of the elongation Δl to the original length l0.
Tensile strain =

Tensile strain is stretch per unit length.

The corresponding elastic modulus is called Young’s modulus, denoted by Y:
 
𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐹 /𝐴 𝐹 𝑙0
Y= = =
𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 Δ𝑙/𝑙0 𝐴 Δ𝑙

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 Young’s Modulus

Bulk
  Modulus: If the stress and strain considered are volume stress and volume strain,
the elastic modulus is known as bulk modulus (B).

The stress is now a uniform pressure on all sides and the resulting deformation is a
volume change. 𝐹
Bulk (Volume) stress (P) = (SI unit: 1 Pa = 1 N/m2)
  A

The fractional change in volume is called Bulk strain, i.e., the ratio of the volume change
ΔV to the original volume V0

Bulk (Volume) strain =

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Experiment : Young’s Modulus

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Experiment : Young’s Modulus

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Experiment : Young’s Modulus

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Experiment : Young’s Modulus

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Experiment : Young’s Modulus

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