INTI International College Penang

Physics 9702

Matter
Topic 8: Deformation Of Solids
Elastic & Plastic Deformation
Hookes Law
Strain Energy
Stress and Strain
The Young Modulus
Behavior of Materials
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Deformation (pg 104)

When forces are applied to a

solid body, its shape
changes.
The change may be very
small, but nevertheless the
forces affect the spacing of
the atoms in the solid to a
tiny extent, and its external
dimensions change. This
change of shape is called
deformation.
We call the deformation
produced by forces a tensile
deformation in the case of
stretching, or a compressive
deformation in the case of
squashing an object.
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Elastic & Plastic Deformation

In the case of a helical spring hanging vertically, there will be an extension in its
length when a load is attached to it.
If the load is increased greatly, the spring will permanently change its shape.
However, for small loads, when the load is removed, the spring returns to its
original length. The spring is said to have undergone an elastic change.
In elastic change, a body returns to its original shape and size when the load on
it is removed.
The spring behaves elastically until the elastic limit. Beyond this point, the
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spring is deformed permanently and the change is said to be plastic.

Hookes Law

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The fact that there is a straight line relationship between load an extension for
the elastic change is expressed in Hookes law.
Hookes law states that, provided the elastic limit is not exceeded, the
extension of a body is proportional to the applied load.
F = k L
where F is the force, k is the elastic or spring constant and L is the extension.
The elastic constant is the force per unit extension and has the unit of N m-1. It
is represented by the gradient of a graph of force against extension .
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Strain Energy

When an object has its shape

changed by forces acting on it,
the object is said to be strained.
Energy is stored in the body as
potential energy when it is
strained.
This particular form of potential
energy is called elastic potential
energy or strain potential energy
or simply strain energy.
Strain energy is energy stored in a
body due to change of shape (e.g.
stretched wires, twisted elastic
bands and compressed gases).

Strain Energy (pg 108-109)

To produce an extension x, the force
applied at the lower end of the spring
increases linearly with extension from
zero to a value F.
The average force is F and the work
done W by the force is therefore

W = average force x extension

= Fx = (kL)(L) = k(L)2
since L is equivalent to x. Hence,
Strain energy = k(L)2
The expression kx2 represents the area between the straight line and
the x-axis. This means that strain energy is represented by the area under
the line on a graph of load (y-axis) plotted against extension (x-axis).
Tutorial 8.1

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Physics 9702

Stress and Strain (pg 105-106)

The difficulty with using the elastic constant is that the constant is different for
each specimen of a material having a different shape.
The Young modulus however, enables us to find extensions by just knowing
the constant and the dimensions of the specimen.
When an object of original length is extended by an amount L, the strain, , is
defined as
strain = extension/ original length
= L/L
Strain is the ratio of two lengths and does not have a unit.
The strain produced within an object is caused by a stress.
When a tensile force (or tension) F acts normally to an area A, the stress, , is
given by
Stress = force/ area normal to the force
= F/A
The unit of tensile stress is N m-2. This unit is also the unit of pressure and so
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the alternative unit for stress is the Pascal (Pa).

The Young Modulus (pg 106-107)

Since load is related to stress and

extension is related to strain, a graph of
stress plotted against strain would have
the same basic shape.
There is a straight line region between
the origin and the elastic limit. In this
region, changes of strain with stress are
elastic. For this region,
stress strain
stress = E x strain
The proportionality constant E is known
as the Young Modulus of the material.
Young modulus E = stress/strain
The unit of the Young Modulus is the
same as that for stress because strain is a
ratio and has no unit.
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The Young Modulus

The Young Modulus of a metal in the form of a wire may be measured by applying loads
to a wire and measuring the extension caused.
The original length and the cross-sectional area (calculated from the diameter) of the wire
must also be measured.
A sticker with a reference mark on it is attached to the wire at a distance of just less than
one metre from the clamped end. The original length L is measured from the clamped end
to the reference mark.
Extensions L are measured as masses m are added to the mass carrier. Do not exceed
the linear (elastic) region.
The load F is calculated from F = mg. A graph of L against F has gradient L/EA, so the
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Young modulus E is equal to L /(A x gradient).

The Young Modulus

Young's Modulus is a measure of the stiffness of a material.

It states how much a material will stretch as a result of a given amount of
stress.
Tutorial 8.2

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Behavior Of Materials Under Tensile Stress

The force-extension graphs of all metals in the form of

wires have generally a straight line portion through the
origin, and then a region in which the extension
increases more rapidly than the force.
Eventually, well into the region of plastic deformation,
application of larger and larger forces will cause the
cross-section of the wire to form a narrow neck, so that
the extension continues to increase without the addition
of further force. The wire will eventually break.
From the force at which the curve is a maximum, a
quantity known as the ultimate tensile stress can be
calculated.
This is the maximum force divided by the original crosssectional area of the wire.
The ultimate tensile stress gives an idea of the maximum
stress that the wire could support (this is not the same as
the stress when the wire finally breaks).

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Ductile & Brittle

The graph shows the characteristic of materials which can be

drawn out into wires, or ductile materials. Ductility is a
characteristic of many metals.
Another class of material, brittle materials, are also shown. A
glass fibre is a typical example.
The fibre extends elastically with a linear relation between force
and extension over a range. Very soon after the limit of
proportionality, the fibre snaps.
This is called brittle fracture and many amorphous substances
like glass are classified as brittle materials.
Their characteristic is that deformation obeys Hookes law over
practically the whole range of extensions and there is little
plastic deformation.
That is why, when a glass beaker is dropped on the floor, it
shatters into many pieces while a metal beaker is deformed
plastically by the impact, ending up with a deformation in the
form of a dent but not breaking.
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Behaviour of Materials

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Behaviour of Materials

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Polymeric Material
A typical polymeric material (such as rubber) has
another entirely different force-extension graph.
Only a very small part of the curve, near the origin,
is sufficiently linear to use to calculate the Young
modulus.
The polymeric material can be stretched to many
times its original length before it breaks.
The curve also shows a very extensive region in
which the cord will return to its original length when
the stretching force is removed.

However, this may not be the case of simple elastic extension because, although the
cord is not permanently deformed, it may not return to its original length along the
same path. This is called elastic hysteresis.
The graph shows that the strain energy required to deform rubber (the area under the
graph) is greater than the work done by the material in returning to its original length.
The excess energy represented by the area bounded by the two curves, must be energy
dissipated within the rubber, showing up as an increase in temperature.

Tutorial 8.3

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