PHY 103

ELASTICITY
CONTENT
Introduction.
Stress.
Strain.
Hooke’s Law.
Stress-Strain Diagram.
Different moduli of elasticity.
Poisson’s Ratio.
 Introduction:

•Elasticity is the ability of a body to resist a distorting influence or deforming force

and to return to its original size and shape when that influence or force is removed.
Solid objects will deform when adequate forces are applied on them.
If the material is elastic, the object will return to its initial shape and size when these
forces are removed.
The physical reasons for elastic behavior can be quite different for different materials.

If a body does not regain its original shape and size after removal of the deforming
force, it is said to be plastic body the property is called plasticity.
 Stress
Stress is defined as the restoring force per unit area is called stress.
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐹
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝜎 = =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝐴

SI unit of stress is 𝑁/𝑚2 or Pascal (Pa) and its dimension is 𝑀𝐿−1 𝑇 −2

Types of stresses:
Longitudinal stress and Shearing stress:
The normal stress or longitudinal stress over the area is defined as
𝐹𝑛
𝜎𝑛 =
∆𝐴
Types of longitudinal stress:
•Tensile stress
•Compressive stres
a.Tensile stress: Internal forces on the two sides of ΔA
may pull each other, it is stretched by equal and opposite
forces. Then, the longitudinal stress is called tensile
stress.
b.Compressive stress: When the forces acting on the two
sides of ΔA push each other, ΔA is pushed by equal and
opposite forces at the two ends. In this case ΔA is said to
be under compression. Then, the longitudinal stress is
called compressive stress.
(2) Tangential or Shearing Stress: Restoring force per unit area parallel
to the surface is called tangential or shearing stress. If the deforming
forces act tangentially or parallel to the surface so that shape of the
body changes without change in volume, the stress is called shearing
stress.
An example of shearing stress is shown in which a book is pushed
side ways. Its opposite face is held fixed by the force of friction.
Volume stress:
When a body is acted by forces everywhere on the surface such that the force
at any point is normal to the surface and the magnitude of the force on a small
surface area is proportional to the area. When a solid is immersed in fluid, the
pressure at the location of the solid is P, the force on any area ΔA is
𝐹 = 𝑃∆𝐴
Where, F is perpendicular to the area. Thus, force per unit area is called
volume stress.
𝐹
σ𝑉 =
𝐴

Which is the same as the pressure.

 Strain
When a deforming force is applied, there is a change length, shape or volume
of the body. The ratio of the change in any dimension to its original value is
called strain. Strain measures the degree of deformation.

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝜀 =
𝑂𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛
It is a dimensionless quantity and has no unit. Strain is classified into three
types.
Longitudinal strain. Types of longitudinal strain:
Tensile strain and Compressive strain
Shearing strain.
Volume strain.
(1) Longitudinal or Linear Strain: It is defined as the increase in length per unit original
length of an object when it is deformed by an external force.
The ratio of change in length to the original length is called longitudinal or
elongation strain.
When a rod of length l is pulled by equal and opposite forces , the longitudinal strain is
𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ ∆𝑙
defined as 𝜀𝑙 = =
𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑙

Longitudinal strain can be classified into two types

i) Tensile strain: If the length is increased from its natural length then it is known as
tensile strain.
ii) Compressive strain: If the length is decreased from its natural length then it is
known as compressive strain.
Shearing strain: When the force applied is acting parallel to the surface of the body then the
change takes place only in the shape of the body. The corresponding strain is called shear
strain. The angular deformation produced by an external force is called shear strain.

∆𝑥
𝜃=
𝑦

Example 1
A load of 100 kg is suspended by a wire of length 1.0 m and cross sectional area
20.10 𝑐𝑚2 . The wire is stretched by 0.20 cm. Calculate the (i) tensile
stress, and (ii) strain in the wire. Given, 𝑔 = 9.80𝑚/𝑠 2 .
 Solution

𝐹 𝑀𝑔
(i) Tensile stress =𝑇𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = = =
𝐴 𝐴
(100𝑘𝑔)(9.80 𝑚Τ𝑠 2 ) 7 𝑁𝑚−2
= 9.8 × 10
0.10 × 104 𝑚2

(ii) Tensile strain =

∆𝑙 0.20 × 102 𝑚
= = 0.20 × 102 𝑚
𝑙 1.0 𝑚
 Hooke’s law
This fundamental law of elasticity was proposed by Robert Hooke in 1679 and it
states that “Provided the strain is small, the stress is directly proportional to the strain”. In other
words, the ratio of stress to strain is a constant quantity for the given material and it is called the
modulus of elasticity or coefficient of elasticity.
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 ∝ 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
∴ 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 = 𝐸 × 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 ∴E=
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛

The units and dimensions of the modulus of elasticity are the same as that of stress.
Elastic Limit : The maximum stress within which the body regains its original size and shape
after the removal of deforming force is called the elastic limit.
When the stress is continually increased in the case of solid, a point is reached at which the strain
increased more rapidly. The stress at which the linear relationship between stress and strain hold
good is called elastic limit of the material.
Stress-Strain Diagram:
The direct proportionality between stress and strain is found
to be true only for small values of strain as shown in the figure
below
• The portion OA of the curve is a straight line showing that the
stress is directly proportional to strain.
It shows that Hooke’s law is strictly obeyed up to the value of
stress corresponding to point A. This point is called Elastic limit.
Beyond point A, the curve is not a straight line.
In this region AB, the strain increases more rapidly than the
stress and the behavior is partly elastic and partly plastic.
If the object is unloaded at B, it does not come back to its
original condition along path AO, but takes the dotted path BC.
The object is said to have acquired permanent set. And
OC is called the residual strain.
• Beyond the point B, the length of the wire starts
increasing without any increase in stress. Thus, wire
begins to flow after point B and it continues up to D. The
point B, at which the wire begins to flow is called yield
point.
• Beyond the point F, the graph indicates that length of the
wire increases, even if the wire is unloaded. The wire
breaks ultimately at point E, called the breaking point of
the wire. The portion of the graph between D and E is
called the plastic region.
 Different Moduli of Elasticity
Young’s Modulus (E) or (Y):
It is defined as ratio of longitudinal stress to longitudinal strain.

𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
𝐸=
𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
Consider a wire of length L and area of cross-section A. It undergoes an increase
length l when a stretching force F is appiled.

𝐹 Τ𝐴 𝐹𝑙
𝐸= =
∆𝑙 Τ𝑙 𝐴∆𝑙
Hence, Young’s modulus can also be defined as the force applied to a wire of unit
length and unit cross sectional area to produce the increase in length by unity. The
units of Young’s modulus are Pascal or 𝑁/𝑚2 in MKS and dyne/𝑐𝑚2 in CGS system.
Rigidity Modulus (G): It is defined as the ratio of tangential stress to shearing
strain. It is also called Shear Modulus (G).

𝑇𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
𝐺=
𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
Consider the lower face of a cube is fixed and a tangential force F is applied at the
upper face of area A. The angle Φ through which a line originally perpendicular to the
fixed face is turned, is a measure of the shearing strain.
Shearing strain = Φ
𝑇𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐹 Τ𝐴
Tangential stress = F/A hence 𝑅𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝐺 = =
𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 Φ
It is defined as the ratio of tangential stress to shear strain.
Bulk Modulus (K):
It is defined as the ratio of volume stress to the volume strain.

𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠
𝐾=
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
Consider three equal stresses act on a body in mutually perpendicular directions.
There is a change of volume v in original volume V.
Bulk stress = F/A and Bulk strain = v/V
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐹 Τ𝐴 𝐹𝑉
Hence 𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 = = = .
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 ∆𝑣Τ𝑉 𝐴∆𝑣

The units of bulk modulus are Pa or 𝑁Τ𝑚2 in SI.

• Compressibility: The reciprocal of the bulk modulus of a material is called
compressibility i.e. 1/K.
Poisson’s ratio (ν)
When a force is applied along the length of wire, the wire elongates along the length
but it contracts radially.
Longitudinal strain = ΔL and Lateral strain =
Lr
Poisson’s ratio is defined as the ratio of lateral strain to longitudinal strain.

𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 ∆𝑑 Τ𝑑 𝑙 ∆𝑑
𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑛′ 𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = = =
𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 ∆𝑙 Τ𝑙 𝑑 ∆𝑙
 EXAMPLE 2

Calculate the force required to increase the length of a wire of steel of cross sectional
area 0.1𝑐𝑚2 by 50%. Given 𝑌 = 2 × 1011 𝑁𝑚−2 .
 Solution :
Increase in the length of wire = 50%. If ΔL is the increase and L is the
normal length of wire
∆𝑙 1
then =
𝑙 2

𝐹×𝐿
Therefore 𝑌 =
𝐴×∆𝑙

𝑌×𝐴×∆𝑙
Hence, 𝐹 =
𝐿

2 × 1011 𝑁𝑚−2 × 0.1 × 104 𝑚2 × 1

= = 0.1 × 107 𝑁
2