Elasticity

Once we have determined the relationship between stress and strain for a given material, we can use this relationship to determine an important constant for that material.

If we take the ratio of the stress to the strain within the elastic range, we obtain a quantity that is constant for a particular material.

This is called Young's modulus, or the modulus of elasticity.

The capital letter Y is used to designate this constant, which is written mathematically as shown at right.

• Young's Modulus (Y) =

• or, by substituting the equations for stress and strain:

• which, after algebraic manipulation appears as:

BackNext