Mechanical Properties of Solids

When we observe rotational motion then we come to know that there is different
type of motion for different masses and their shapes. However, we observe that there
are many types of solids which have different shapes, size and mass. In physics these
are sum up by their properties like Elasticity and Plasticity which are based on their
tendency of regaining the previous shape. And, the physics phenomenon that we use
to find out these properties are Stress and Strain.

Formulae
Stress: The restoring force per unit area is referred as Stress which is equal to force F applied to
the normal to area A .
F
Magnitude of Stress=
A
−2
• SI Unit is Nm or Pa.
• There are few types of stress- Tensile stress, Shearing stress or Tangential stress,
Compressive stress, hydraulic stress, etc

Strain: If there is any change in shape and size then the ratio of change in size to original size
will be referred as strain.

• Longitudinal Strain: .
Relative displacement of faces x
• Shearing Strain: =
Length of cylinder L
Change in volume V
• Volume Strain: =
original volume V
• It is unitless and dimension less quantity.

Hooke’s Law: Hooke’s Law states that stress and strain are directly proportional to each other
i.e.,
Stress  Strain
Stress=k.Strain
 k= constant of proportionality and also known as Modulus of Elasticity.

Young’s Modulus: Ratio of longitudinal or comprehensive stress ( ) to longitudinal strain ( ) .

Stress  F/A
Y= = =
Strain  L / L

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Mechanical Properties of Solids

 Mg L
• We can determine young’s modulus by using a wire material: Y = = .
  r 2 L

Shear Modulus: Ratio of shear stress and shear strain of same material, it is also known as
Modulus of Rigidity.
Shearing stress F L
G= =
Shearing strain A x
x F/A
 Also, we know,   so G= . Hence, σ s =shear stress= G  
L 

Bulk Modulus: Ratio of volume stress or hydraulic stress to volume strain or hydraulic strain.
p
B=−
V / V
• The negative sign indicates that when pressure increases, volume decreases. Hence,
when p is positive then V is negative.
1 1 V
• Compressibility: Reciprocal of bulk modulus: k = = − .
B p V
• BSolid  Bliquid  Bgas

Poisson’s Ratio: The ratio of lateral strain to the longitudinal strain.

contraction diameter(Δd)
• Lateral Strain :
original diameter(d)
d / d
• Poisson's Ratio:
L / L

Elastic Potential Energy in Stretched Wire: Work is stored in the form of potential energy when
a wire is in tensile stress and the work is done against inter atomic forces.
1
YAl l 2 YA
• Work done, W =  dl =
0
L 2 L
1
• Work done, W=  Young's Modulus  strain 2  volume of the wire
2
1
W=  stress  strain  volume of the wire
2
1
• Elastic Energy density, U = 
2

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