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F A (where F is the force applied and A is the cross-sectional area of the δl l l Fl A Δl

The experiment measured the Young's modulus of steel by hanging weights from a steel wire and measuring the distance stretched. As heavier weights were added, the wire stretched further in a linear relationship. The slope of a plot of extension vs. mass directly provided the value of Young's modulus. Analysis showed extension is proportional to mass divided by cross-sectional area times Young's modulus. Measurements were taken from 0.5-6 kg in weight. A linear trendline through the data yielded the Young's modulus of the steel wire.

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George Pap
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79 views3 pages

F A (where F is the force applied and A is the cross-sectional area of the δl l l Fl A Δl

The experiment measured the Young's modulus of steel by hanging weights from a steel wire and measuring the distance stretched. As heavier weights were added, the wire stretched further in a linear relationship. The slope of a plot of extension vs. mass directly provided the value of Young's modulus. Analysis showed extension is proportional to mass divided by cross-sectional area times Young's modulus. Measurements were taken from 0.5-6 kg in weight. A linear trendline through the data yielded the Young's modulus of the steel wire.

Uploaded by

George Pap
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

The objective of this experiment was the calculation of the Youngs modulus of steel. For this
purpose, a steel wire was hung from a beam attached to the laboratory ceiling. A series of
weights with increasing mass were attached to the wire, causing it to stretch downwards. The
distance from the weight to the floor was measured each time.
E , is defined as the ratio of the stress applied to the

The Youngs modulus of the wire,


wire,

F
A

(where

F is the force applied and

wire), to the strain on the wire,

is the cross-sectional area of the

l
l , which is just the fractional change in its length,

l
E=

Fl
A l

In SI units, Youngs modulus is measured in

(1)
N m2 , (the same units as the stress, as the

strain is a dimensionless quantity).

Experimental
The steel wire was measured to be 1m long, with an estimated mean diameter of 0.30 mm. A
range of data using weights from 0.5 kg to 6.0 kg is presented in the table below; when a 6.5
kg load was attached it broke the wire. The distance measurements were estimated to be
accurate to 0.04 mm, and the possible variations in the wire diameter along its length were
estimated to be up to plus or minus 0.005 mm, while the error in the wire length and the
masses used was negligibly small.

Mass (kg)

Distance (mm)

0.5

9.70

1.0

9.26

1.5

8.96

2.0

8.64

2.5

8.38

3.0

8.00

3.5

7.62

4.0

7.36

4.5

7.04

5.0

6.60

5.5

6.00

6.0

5.22

TABLE 1 Data obtained in the measurement of Youngs modulus

Results
Eq. (1) can be written as
l=

l
F
AE

(2)

The force applied to the wire is equal to the weight of the object attached to it, therefore
F=mg and

l=

Therefore, the relation between l


li

If
and

li +1

and

mi+1

(3)

and m is expected to be linear.

are the extensions of the wire caused by the weights with masses

mi

, respectively, then
li +1l i=

But

gl
m
AE

li +1l i=d idi +1

with masses

mi

and

, where
mi+1

di

gl
( m mi)
A E i +1

and

d i+1

(4)

are the measured distances of the weights

to the floor, respectively. Therefore


d id i +1=

gl
(m mi) ,
A E i +1

(5)

which can be written equivalently as


d 1d n =

gl
(m m1 )
AE n

where indices 1 , n indicate the 1st and the n


d=d1 d n

measurements. Defining

as the effective extension of the wire, and

of the object, Eq. (6) implies that d


value of

th

(6)

m=mnm1

as the effective mass

should be plotted against m in order to obtain the

E .

A plot of the effective extension (in mm) versus the effective mass (in kg) is shown in Fig. 1

FIGURE 1 Plot of

(effective extension) against m (effective mass)

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