Chapter - 9
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS
Worksheet
1. A structural steel rod has a radius of 10 mm and a length of 1 m. A 100 k N force F stretches it
along its length. Calculate (a) the stress, (b) elongation and (c) strain on the rod. Given that
Young’s modulus, Y, of the structural steel is 2.0 x 1011 Nm-2.
[3.18 x 108 N/m2, 1.59 x 10-3 m, 1.59 x 10-3]
2. What is the percentage increase in the length of a wire of diameter 2.5 mm stretched by a force of
100 kgwt? Young’s modulus of elasticity of the wire is 12.5 x 1011 dyne cm-2. [15.9 x 10-2]
3. A composite wire of uniform diameter 3.0 mm consisting of a copper wire of length 2.2 m and a
steel wire of length 1.6 m stretches under a load by 0.7 mm. Calculate the load. Given that
Young’s modulus for copper is 1.1 x 1011 Pa and for steel is 2.0 x 1011 Pa. [176.8 N]
4. A square lead slab of size 50 cm and thickness 10 cm is subjected to a shearing force (on its
narrow face) of magnitude 9.0 x 104 N. the lower edge is reverted to the floor. How much is the
upper edge displaced, if the shear modulus of lead is 5.6 x 109 Pa? [1.6 x 10-4 m]
5. A 40 kg boy whose leg bones are 4 cm2 in area and 50 cm long falls through a height of 50 cm
without breaking his leg bones. If the bones can stand a stress of 0.9 x 10 8 Nm-2, calculate
Young’s modulus for the material of the bone. Take g = 10 ms-2. [2.025 x 109 N/ m2]
6. A material has a Poisson’s ratio of 0.5. If a uniform rod of it suffers a longitudinal strain of 2 x 10-
3
, what is the percentage increase in volume? [0]
-6 2
7. A copper wire of negligible mass, 1 m length and cross-sectional area 10 m is kept on a smooth
horizontal table with one end fixed. A ball of mass 1 kg is attached to another end. The wire and
the ball are rotating with an angular velocity of 20 rads-1. If the elongation in the wire is 10-3m,
obtain Young’s modulus. If on increasing the angular velocity to 100 rads-1, the wire breaks down,
obtain the breaking stress. [4 x 1011 N/m2, 1010]
8. The edge of an aluminium cube is 10 cm long. One face of the cube is firmly fixed to a vertical
wall. A mass of 100 kg is attached to the opposite face of the cube. The shear modulus of
aluminium is 25 G Pa. What is the vertical deflection of this face? (1 Pa = 1 Nm-2 ). [4 x 10-7 m]
9. Four identical hollow cylindrical columns of mild steel support a big structure of mass 50,000 kg.
the inner and outer radii of each column are 30 cm and 40 cm respectively. Assuming the load
distribution to be uniform, calculate the compressional strain of each column. The Young’s
modulus of steel is 2.0 x 1011 Pa. [2.8 x 10-6]
10. A piece of copper having a rectangular cross-section of 15.2 mm x 19.1 mm is pulled in tension
with 44,500 N force, producing only elastic deformation. Calculate the resulting strain. [1.277 x
10-3 ]
11. A steel cable with a radius of 1.5 cm supports a chairlift in a ski area. If the maximum stress is not
to exceed 108 Nm-2, what is the maximum load the cable can support? [7.07 x 104 N]
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12. A rigid bar of mass 15 kg is supported symmetrically by three wires each 2.0 m long. Those at
each end are of copper and the middle one is of iron. Determine the ratios of their diameters if
each is to have the same tension. [1.3]
13. A 14.5 kg mass, fastened to the end of a steel wire of unstretched length of 1.0 m, is whirled in a
vertical circle with an angular velocity of 2 rev/s at the bottom of the circle. The cross-sectional
area of the wire is 0.065 cm2. Calculate the elongation of the wire when the mass is at the lowest
point of its path. [1.87 x 10-3 m]
14. Compute the bulk modulus of water from the following data: Initial volume = 100.0 litres,
pressure increase = 100.0 atm, final volume = 100.5 litres (1 atm = 1.013 x 105 Pa).
[2.026 x 109 Pa]
15. What is the density of ocean water at a depth where the pressure is 80.0 atm, given that its density
at the surface is 1.03 x 103 kgm-3? Compressibility of water = 45.8 x 10-11 Pa-1.
Given 1 atm = 1.013 x 105 Pa. [1.034 x 103 kg/m3]
16. Compute the fractional change in volume of a glass slab, when subjected to a hydraulic pressure of
10 atm. [2.74 x 10-5]
17. How much should the pressure on a litre of water be changed to compress it by 0.10%?
[2.2 x 106 N/m2]
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