CE 5010: Assignment – 1

(Due on Aug 18 at 5 PM)

Please submit your assignment as a PDF document using Moodle only.
Question 1 (4 Marks)
You have been given a task to select material which will lead to minimum weight for the
beam loaded as below. Please use the stiffness criterion (specified bending stiffness) and data
given in the Table below to rank the materials for their suitability as beam material.

Material Density (kg/m3) Elastic Modulus Compressive

(GPa) Strength (MPa)
Diamond 3500 1000 50000
Structural steel 7850 200 450
Timber 900 10 20
Concrete 2400 40 50
Rubber 1100 5 20

Question 2 (4 Marks)
The potential energy U of two atoms, a distance r apart, is

U = - A/r2 + B/r10

Given that the atoms form a stable molecule at a separation of 0.3 nm with an energy of – 4
eV, calculate A and B. Also find the force required to break the molecule, and the critical
separation at which the molecule breaks. You should sketch an energy/distance curve for the
atom, and sketch beneath this curve the appropriate force/distance curve.

Question 3 (2 Marks)
Are there materials which contract upon increasing the temperature? If so, why? What happens
to interatomic distance during temperature increase?