3.

DETERMINATION OF THE YOUNG’S MODULUS OF THE MATERIAL OF A WIRE

Objectives:

➢ To acquaintance with the Hooke’s Law.

System requirement:

Computer (Desktop/Laptop), Operating systems: Windows, Youngs Moduls_vle (zipped) File.

Advise:

Students are advised to follow the procedures written in this manual very strictly while
performing the experiment. Do not try to explore anything else in the experiment.

Theory:

When the deforming force is applied to a body in such a manner that its length is changed,
longitudinal or linear strain is produced in the body. The internal force of reaction or the restoring
force trying to restore its length. Restoring force acts along the length of the body and its magnitude
per unit cross-sectional area is the normal stress. The ratio of the change in the length of the body
to its initial length is known as longitudinal strain. According to Hooke’s law, the ratio of this
normal stress and the longitudinal strain is called Young’s modulus of elasticity, Y.

Thus, if a uniform cylindrical wire of length L and cross-section area A is stretched in length by
applying a force F acting along its length, the internal restoring force equals the external force in
the equilibrium state, then

𝑙
Longitudinal strain = 𝐿 … … … …(1)

𝐹 𝑚𝑔
and Normal stress = 𝐴 = … … … …(2)
𝜋𝑟 2

where, m is the mass of the load, g is the acceleration due to gravity and r is the radius of the wire.

𝐹
𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑔𝐿
Therefore, Y = 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 = 𝐴
𝑙 = … … … …(3)
𝜋𝑟 2 𝑙
𝐿

As stress is force per unit area, it’s CGS unit is dyne/cm2. A strain is a ratio and has no dimension.
Young modulus is, therefore, expressed in the same unit of stress. The dimensional formula for
Young’s modulus is ML–1T–2.
Procedures:

1. At first unzip “Young’s Modulus_vle (zipped)” File. Click on the executable file “Youngs
Modulus_vle” then a window will open as shown in Fig. 1.
2. Select the material of the wire whose Young’s modulus you want to determine by choosing
steel from the rectangle box on the top left (Arrow-1) of Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
3. Adjust the diameter (0.6 mm) of the steel wire using the circular knob on the top (Arrow-
2) as shown in Fig. 1. Keep the material and diameter of the wire unchanged throughout
your experiment.
4. Start with the wire totally unloaded but with just the hanger to keep the wire straight ( this
can be considered as dead load).
5. Add a 1 kg of mass using the circular knob near the bottom of the screen (Arrow-3) as
indicated in Fig. 1. Record the extension of the wire as seen through the microscope. You
have to wait for a few seconds until the oscillation of the red pointer in the field of view of
the microscope is stopped. Remember that the microscope scale in 1/10ths of mm, i.e., its
1 division equal to 0.1 mm.
6. Repeat step 5 by increasing load one by one up to 8 kg. These are reading with the loads
increasing on the hanger.
7. Take out the load one by one from the hanger and obtain another set of readings for loads
decreasing.
8. Each time measure the length of the experimental wire from the point of suspension to the
point where the travelling microscope is fixed due to the measurement of the extension.
9. Calculate the cross-sectional area of the wire from the diameter measured by the
micrometer (Screw gauge).
 10. Draw the mean elongation versus load graph with elongation along the ordinate and load
along the abscissa.
11. Calculate the slope/gradient of the graph and then Young’s modulus of the wire using the
above data and the working formula (Eq. 3).

Data Collections:
(A) Diameter of the wire, d = . . . cm
𝑑
Therefore, radius of the wire, r = 2 = ………cm

Area of cross section of the wire, 𝜋𝑟 2 = ………cm2

Table 1: Reading for measuring the mean elongation

(D) Plot a graph of elongation vs. load

∆𝒍

∆𝒎

𝐸𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 ∆𝑙
𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 = =
𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 ∆𝑚

Load, m in gm
Calculation:

𝑚𝑔𝐿 𝑔𝐿 𝑚 𝑔𝐿 1
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔′ 𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠, 𝑌 = = = 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒/𝑐𝑚2
𝜋𝑟 2 𝑙 𝜋𝑟 2 𝑙 𝜋𝑟 2 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒

Result:

𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔′ 𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠, 𝑌 =. . . . . . 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒/𝑐𝑚2

= . . . . . . 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛/𝑚2

Error analysis:

|𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒|

Discussion:

Based on your understanding by conducting this experiment, answer the following questions:

1) Why it is necessary to wait for a while before taking the reading after putting a load on the
hanger or removing a load from the hanger?
2) If the length and the diameter of the wire are changed, will there be any change in the value of
Young’s modulus of that wire?
3) On what factors do the value of Young’s modulus depends?
4) Explain briefly the effect of temperature on Young’s modulus.
5) Why steel is more elastic than rubber?
6) Mention some uses of Young’s modulus in our practical life.