MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLIDS

(COMPETENCY BASED QUESTIONS)

ENGLISH When the pressure on a sphere is increased by 80 atmospheres, then its volumes decreases by 0.01%. Find the
1
1 bulk modulus of elasticity of the material of sphere.

ANS:

2 A spherical ball contracts in volume by 0.01% when subjected to a normal uniform pressure of two atmospheres.
2
What is the bulk modulus of its material in C.G.S. units ?

ANS:

3 A spring balance reads 10 kg when a bucket of water is suspended from it. What is the reading on the spring
balance when : 3
(i) an ice cube of mass 1.5 kg is put into the bucket ?
(ii) an iron piece of mass 7.8 kg suspended by another string is immersed with half its volume inside the water in the
 bucket (Relative density of iron = 7.8) ?

ANS: (i) The reading of the spring balance = 10 kg + 1.5 kg = 11.5 kg.
(ii) Mass of the iron piece m = 7.8 kg

Density of the iron = 7.8 × 103 kg/m3

4 (i) Write the Hooke’s law.

(ii) A steel wire of length 4 m and diameter 5 mm is stretched by 5 kg-wt. Find the increase in its length, if the 3
young’s modulus of steel wire is 2.4 × 1012 dyne cm–2.

ANS: (i) Hooke’s law states that the extension produced in the wire is directly proportional to the load applied
within elastic limit.
 i.e., within elastic limit, extension ∝ load applied. (ii)

5 A steel wire of length 4.7 m and cross section 3.0 × 10−5 m2 stretches by the same amount as a copper wire of
length 3.5 m and cross section 4.0 × 10−5 m2 under a given load. What is the ratio of the Young’s modulus of steel to 4
that of copper ?

ANS:
6 Two wires, one of steel and the other of aluminium, each 2 m long and of diameter 2.0 mm, are joined end to end to
form a composite wire of length 4.0 m. What tension in the wire will produce a total extension of 0.90 mm ? 4
11 −2 11 −2
Y for steel = 2 × 10 Nm ; Y for aluminium = 7 × 10 Nm .

ANS:

7 Calculate the percentage increase in length of a wire of diameter 2.5 mm stretched by a force of 100 kg weight.
4
Young’s modulus of elasticity of wire is 12.5 × 1011 dyne/sq. cm.
 ANS:

8 Four identical cylindrical columns of steel support a big structure of mass 50,000 kg. The inner and outer radii of
each column are 30 cm and 40 cm respectively. Assume the load distribution to be uniform, calculate the 4
compressional strain of each column. The Young’s modulus of steel is 2.0 × 1011 Pa.
 ANS:

9 A cube of aluminium of each side 4 cm is subjected to a tangential (shearing) force. The top face of the cube is
sheared through 0.012 cm with respect to the bottom face.
4
Find : (i) shearing strain (ii) shearing stress and (iii) the shearing force.
Given : η = 2.08 × 1011 dyne cm−2.
 ANS:

10 A composite wire of diameter 1 cm consisting of copper and steel wire of lengths 2.2 m and 2.0 m respectively.
Total extension of the wire, when stretched by a force is 1.2 mm. Calculate the force given that Young’s modulus for 4
copper is 1.1 × 1011 Pa and for steel is 2.0 × 1011 Pa.
ANS:
11 A light rod of length 2 m is suspended from the ceiling horizontally by means of two vertical wires of equal length
tied to its ends. One of the wires is made of steel and is of cross-sectional area 0.1 sq cm and the other is of brass
of cross-sectional area 0.2 sq cm. Find out the position along the rod at which a weight may be hung to produce : 4
(i) equal stress in both wires, (ii) equal strain in both wires.
Given : Y for steel = 20 × 1011 dyne cm−2 and Y for brass = 10 × 1011 dyne cm−2.

ANS:

12 A 5 cm cube has its upper face displaced by 0.2 cm by a tangential force of 8 N. Calculate the shearing strain,
4
shearing stress and modulus of rigidity of the material of cube.
 ANS:

13 A 45 kg boy whose leg bones are 5 cm2 in area and 50 cm long falls through a height of 2 m without breaking his
leg bones. If the bones can withstand a stress of 0.9 × 108 N/m2, calculate the Young’s modulus for the material of 4
the bone. Use, g = 10 ms−2.
 ANS:

14 A rubber string 10 m long is suspended from a rigid support at its one end. Calculate the extension in the string due
to its own weight. The density of rubber is 1.5 × 103 kg/m3 and Young’s modulus for the rubber is 5 × 106 N/m2.
4
The breaking stress for a metal is 7.8 × 109 N/m2. Calculate the maximum length of the wire made of this metal with
may be suspended without breaking. The density of metal = 7.8 × 103 kg/m3.
ANS:
15 Figure shows the strain-stress curve for a given material. What are (a) Young’s modulus and (b) approximate yield
strength for this materials ?

ANS:

16 Two wires of diameters 0.25 cm, one made of steel and the other made of brass are loaded as shown in figure. The
unloaded length of steel wire is 1.5 m and that of brass wire is 1.0 m. Compute the elongations of the steel and the 4
brass wires.
 ANS:

17 A steel wire of length 4.7 m and crosssectional area 3.0 × 10–5 m2 stretches by the same amount as a copper wire 3
of length 3.5 m and cross-sectional area of 4.0 × 10–5 m2 under a given load. What is the ratio of the Young’s
 modulus of steel to that of copper ?

ANS:

18 What is the density of water at a depth where pressure is 80.0 atm ? Given that density at the surface is 1.03 × 103
4
kg m–3, compressibility of water = 45.8 × 10–11 Pa–1.
 ANS:

19 The edge of an aluminium cube is 10 cm long. One face of the cube is firmly fixed to a vertical wall. A mass of 100
kg is then attached to the opposite face of the cube. The shear modulus of aluminium is 25 GPa. What is the 4
vertical deflection of this face ?
 ANS:

20 Compute the bulk modulus of water from the following data : Initial volume = 100.0 L, Pressure increase = 100.0
atm (1 atm = 1.013 × 107 Pa), Final volume = 100.5 L. Compare the bulk modulus of water with that of air (at 4
constant temperature). Explain in simple terms why the ratio is so large.
ANS: It is so large because gases are much more compressible than
liquids.