Difference Between Stress and Strain

Stress vs Strain
Physics is a science that studies matter and its actions through time and space. Together with natural
philosophy and natural science, it analyzes nature to provide an understanding of how the world and
the universe behave.
It is closely related to other sciences such as mathematics, ontology, chemistry, geology, cosmology,
and astronomy. It involves the study of the different forces such as stress that can be applied to an
object which can cause it to change and the resulting deformation that the object goes through which is
called the strain.
Stress is a force that can cause a change in a physical body. It is the tension that is produced that can
cause a body to deform. It is the quantitative measurement of the amount of force that is held within an
object. Stress can be measured and is dependent on the applied force within an area. It is the resistance
or internal response of an object to an external pressure. Stress can occur even without strain, but
strain cannot exist without stress.
The word stress comes from the Middle English word destresse which means distress. It in turn
comes from the Old French word estrece meaning oppression or narrowness from the Latin word
strictus which means to draw tight.
Strain is the change in shape or form of an object when stress is applied. Under applied forces, a
physical body is deformed or altered. This is called strain. It only occurs when stress is present, and it
is a concept that has no unit of measure. It is synonymous with the term deformation which is what
happens when stress is applied. Most objects respond to stress or pressure by changing their forms
according to how the pressure or stress is applied to them.
The word strain comes from the Middle English word streinen which is derived from the Old
French word estreindre or estrein which means to press together and also from the Latin word
stringere

which

means

to

bind

tightly.

An example is when stretching a steel wire. Stress is applied when stretching it so that it becomes
longer than it originally was, and the change in length that it undergoes is the strain. Stress may also be
applied through bending or shearing.
Summary:
1.Stress is defined as a force that can cause a change in an object or a physical body while strain is the
change in the form or shape of the object or physical body on which stress is applied.
2.Stress can occur without strain, but strain cannot occur with the absence of stress.
3.Stress can be measured and has a unit of measure while strain does not have any unit and, therefore,
cannot

be

measured.

4.Strain is an objects response to stress while stress is the force that can cause strain in an object.
5.Stress comes from the Latin word strictus which means to draw tight while strain comes from
the Latin word stringere which means to bind tightly.