Adamjee Cantonment College

Subject: Physics 1st Paper

Chapter 07: Structural Properties of Matter
Topic: Elasticity
Ashraful Alam (Lecturer Department of Physics), Mobile: 01675375593
Contact time : From 1900 hr to 2000 hr

Elasticity: When an external force is applied to any object it tends to change their shape.
Objects which can regain their previous shape after removing an external force is referred to
have elastic property. So, the property by virtue of which the body regains its original shape
after the deforming force has been removed is called elasticity.

Stress: If we apply an external force on an object its length or volume or shape will change then
the object will try to get back at its previous shape by generating a reaction force. The value of
the reaction force acting perpendicularly per unit area of an object is called stress.

Stress =

Stress =
Unit of stress is Nm-2 and its dimension, [stress] = [ML-1T-2]

Elastic Limit: The maximum applied force up to which a body exhibits the property of
elasticity is called elastic limit. If the applied force exceeds the maximum stress limit, the body
does not gain its original position completely after the removal of external force.

Breaking Stress: The minimum force acting on the unit area of cross section of an object the
effect of which the body breaks down is called the breaking stress of that object.

Breaking stress =

Strain: The change in the dimension per unit dimension of an object due to the application of
external force is called Strain. If the initial dimension of an object is X and final dimension due
to the external force is Y, we get the change in dimension Y-X (assuming Y>X). Therefore we
can write

Strain =
Strain is a ratio of two similar quantities so it is unitless and also dimensionless scalar quantity.

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There are three different types of strain.

1. Longitudinal strain: If the length of an object is changed due to an external force then
the change of length per unit length is called longitudinal strain.
Longitudinal strain = [ l = change in length and L = initial length]
2. Volume strain: Due to an external force if the volume of an object is changed without
changing its shape then the change in volume per unit volume is called volume strain.
Volume strain = [ v= change in volume and V = initial volume]
3. Shearing strain: Due to an external force if the shape of an object is changed without
changing its volume then the angular displacement found due to such change is called
shearing strain.

Hooke’s law: Within the elastic limit the stress of an object is directly proportional to the
strain.
Stress Strain
stress = k × strain [ k = proportionality constant]

∴k=

Now this constant k is called the modulus of elasticity of the components object. k has a unit and
dimension just like stress.
There are three types of elastic modulus. Those are given below-

Young’s modulus Bulk modulus Rigidity modulus

Within the elastic limit the Within the elastic limit the Within the elastic limit the ratio
ratio of longitudinal stress and ratio of volume stress and of shearing stress to shearing
strain is constant which is strain is constant which is strain is a constant which is
called Young’s modulus. called Bulk modulus. called Rigidity modulus.

Y= B= =

⁄ ⁄ ⁄
= = =
⁄ ⁄

∴Y = = ∴B = ∴ =

Unit of Young’s modulus is Nm-2. Unit of Bulk modulus is Nm-2. Unit of Rigidity modulus is Nm-2.
Here A= cross sectional area of the elastic object.

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Compressibility: The ratio of volume strain to volume stress is called compressibility.
So, Compressibility =

∴ Compressibility = =

Steel is more elastic than Rubber: Suppose one steel and one rubber wire with length L
and similar cross-sectional area A, are hanged down from stable support and force F(mg) is
applied to the other end and their lengths are increased by ls and lr respectively.

So, Young’s modulus of steel, Ys = . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. (1)

and Young’s modulus of rubber, Yr = . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. (2)

Dividing equation (1) by (2) we get,

= = =

But naturally, >

∴ >1

So that we can write,

The matter which has higher Young’s modulus has higher elasticity. Thus, steel is more elastic
than rubber.

Work done due to strain or stored potential energy:

Suppose a thin wire of length L and cross-sectional area A is hanged from a stable support.
Suppose, the length of the wire is increased by dl amount because of applied force F. So, the
changes in the stored potential energy or work done = force × increased length.

∴work done, dw =F× dl

When this equation is integrated within the limit l=0 to total length increase l=l we get the total
work done,

W=∫ ……………………………………………. (3)

The Young’s modulus of the wire, Y = ∴F =

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Placing this value in equation (3) we get,

W=∫

After the calculation we get the actual equation of the total work done

W=
Which is also the stored elastic potential energy.
The stored elastic potential energy per unit volume,

U= [ Here V = volume of the wire = cross-sectional area length = AL]

Yl 2
U=
L2

∴U = × longitudinal stress × longitudinal strain

Poisson’s ratio: Within the elastic limit, the ratio of the lateral strain to longitudinal strain of
an object is a constant which is called the Poisson’s ratio of the component of the object.

That is Poisson’s ratio,

Suppose the length of a wire is L and diameter is D. If the length is increased l and diameter is
decreased by d because of the applied force we can write lateral strain ⁄ and longitudinal
strain ⁄ So we can write Poisson’s ratio

⁄
=
⁄

If we want to use radius instead of diameter, we can rewrite the equation,

=
Poisson’s ratio is a ratio of two strains so it does not have any unit or dimension. But it has a
limiting value ie -1  0.5

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Knowledge based question:
1. What is Elasticity?
2. Define stress.
3. Define Elastic Limit.
4. What is Poisson’s ratio?
Comprehensive based questions:
1. Explain Hooke’s law.
2. What do you understand by Young’s modulus of any object 2×1011 Nm-2?
3. Show that steel is more elastic than rubber.
4. What do you understand by breaking stress of brass is 3×105 Nm-2?
Mathematical problems:
1. How much force has to be applied to increase the length of a steel wire
having cross-sectional area 1 mm2 by 2%? [Y = 2×1011 Nm-2]
2. The required amount of work to increase the length of a steel wire of 200 cm
length and 1 mm2 area of cross-section by 1×10-3 m is 0.005 J. Determine the
Young’s modulus of the component of the wire.
3. The diameter of a 1 m long wire is 5×10-2 m. Due to the application of force along
the length, the length increased by 1×10-2 m. If the Poisson’s ratio is 0.2 then
determine the decrease in diameter of the wire.

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