Chapter12Elasticity-Farmingdale.PDFVIP

Chapter 12 Elasticity “If I have seen further than other men, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton 12.1 The Atomic Nature of Elasticity Elasticity is that property of a body by which it experiences a change in size or shape whenever a deforming force acts on the body. When the force is removed the body returns to its original size and shape. Most people are familiar with the stretching of a rubber band. All materials, however, have this same elastic property, but in most materials it is not so pronounced. The explanation of the elastic property of solids is found in an atomic description of a solid. Most solids are composed of a very large number of atoms or molecules arranged in a fixed pattern called the lattice structure of a solid and shown schematically in figure 12.1(a). These atoms or molecules are held in their Figure 12.1 (a) Lattice structure of a solid. (b) Actual pictures of atoms in a solar cell. positions by electrical forces. The electrical force between the molecules is attractive and tends to pull the molecules together. Thus, the solid resists being pulled apart. Any one molecule in figure 12.1(a) has an attractive force pulling it to the right and an equal attractive force pulling it to the left. There are also equal attractive forces pulling the molecule up and down, and in and out. A repulsive force between the molecules also tends to repel the molecules if they get too close together. This is why solids are difficult to compress. To explain this repulsive force we would need to invoke the Pauli exclusion principle of quantum mechanics (which we discu