Chem 181

Chemistry for Engineers Laboratory

Repunte, Georgette L. BSCHE – 1

Name Course & Year
Gold (Au)/V2 August 21, 2018
Group no./Section Date

Experiment No. 4

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS: THE STRESS – STRAIN CURVE OF

RUBBER BANDS

I. Objectives:

To measure the tensile stress and strain of a material and to measure the Young’s modulus of
materials.

II. Apparatus:

Balance
Meter stick
Micrometer

III. Materials:
Different size rubber bands
Board with hook
Small plastic bucket
Large plastic bucket
Ice
Hot water
Weights
IV. Procedure and Observations:

Initial data such as the original length of the rubber band and its thickness were recorded.
Four rubber bands in which two are thin and two are thick were submerged in cold and hot water
respectively. The other two bands were left in room temperature. Afterwards, one end of the rubber
band was attached to the iron clamp with rubber tubing to prevent the rubber band from snapping
and gathering erroneous data as a result. Then, weight was slowly added on the rubber band
starting with 10 g putting stress on it causing it to stretch or elongate to a certain length. The length
of the rubber band with the weights on was measured using a ruler. The same procedure was done
to the other samples submerged in cold and hot water. After the actual experiment, the data
gathered was computed to get the elongation, engineering stress and the strain of the rubber bands
under different conditions (room temperature, cold and hot). It was observed that the rubber bands
elongate more when stretched at a higher temperature, rather than at a lower, cold temperature.
V. Illustration:
VI. Tables and Calculations

Table 1. Initial Data

Rubber band Rubber band Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber

1 2 band 3 band 4 band 5 band 6
(Room (Room (Cold – (Cold – (Hot- (Hot-
Temperature Temperature THIN) THICK) THIN) THICK)
-THIN) – THICK)
Thickness 1.33mm 1.67mm 1.33mm 1.67mm 1.33mm 1.67mm
Initial 52mm 58mm 52mm 58mm 52mm 58mm
Length

Table 2. Length of Rubber Band Samples

Length of Length of Length of Length of Length of Length of

Rubber band Rubber band Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber
Weight of 1 2 band 3 band 4 band 5 band 6
sand (Room (Room (Cold – (Cold – (Hot- (Hot-
Temperature - Temperature THIN) THICK) THIN) THICK)
THIN) – THICK)
0 55mm 58mm 58mm 58mm 50mm 62mm
10 g 66mm 69mm 67mm 65mm 67mm 69mm
20 g 68mm 71mm 71mm 73mm 70mm 71mm
50 g 71mm 75mm 76mm 75mm 73mm 75mm
100 g 76mm 87mm 83mm 85mm 78mm 79mm
150 g 81mm 102mm 103mm 104mm 86mm 88mm
200 g 87mm 120mm 130mm 129mm 99mm 100mm
250 g 96mm 142mm 160mm 161mm 121mm 108mm
300 g 121mm 169mm 176mm 184mm 136mm 132mm
350 g 141mm 189mm 256mm 214mm 157mm 169mm
400 g 179mm 215mm 210mm 235mm 231mm 171mm
450 g 207mm 232mm 232mm 254mm 240mm 197mm
500 g 233mm 248mm 254mm 273mm 244mm 207mm
At failure:
Temperature of cold water bath: 18 °C

Table 3. Strain

Strain of Strain of Strain of Strain of Strain of Strain

Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber Rubber of
band 1 band 2 band 3 band 4 band 5 Rubber
Weight of sand
(Room (Room (Cold - (Cold - (Hot - band 6
Temperture Temperture Thin) Thick) Thin) (Hot -
- Thin) - Thick) Thick)

0 ᵙ0 ᵙ0 ᵙ0 ᵙ0 ᵙ0 ᵙ0

10 g ᵙ 0.27 ᵙ 0.14 ᵙ 0.16 ᵙ 0.12 ᵙ 0.33 ᵙ 0.19

20 g ᵙ 0.31 ᵙ 0.22 ᵙ 0.22 ᵙ 0.26 ᵙ 0.38 ᵙ 0.22

50 g ᵙ 0.37 ᵙ 0.29 ᵙ 0.31 ᵙ 0.29 ᵙ 0.44 ᵙ 0.29

100 g ᵙ 0.46 ᵙ 0.50 ᵙ 0.43 ᵙ 0.47 ᵙ 0.54 ᵙ 0.36

150 g ᵙ 0.56 ᵙ 0.76 ᵙ 0.76 ᵙ 0.79 ᵙ 0.69 ᵙ 0.52

200 g ᵙ 0.67 ᵙ 1.07 ᵙ 1.24 ᵙ 1.22 ᵙ 0.94 ᵙ 0.72

250 g ᵙ 0.85 ᵙ 1.45 ᵙ 1.76 ᵙ 1.76 ᵙ 1.19 ᵙ 0.86

300 g ᵙ 1.33 ᵙ 1.91 ᵙ 2.03 ᵙ 2.17 ᵙ 1.65 ᵙ 1.28

350 g ᵙ 1.71 ᵙ 2.26 ᵙ 3.41 ᵙ 2.69 ᵙ 2.06 ᵙ 1.91

400 g ᵙ 2.44 ᵙ 2.71 ᵙ 2.62 ᵙ 3.05 ᵙ 3.48 ᵙ 1.95

450 g ᵙ 2.98 ᵙ 3.00 ᵙ 3.00 ᵙ 3.38 ᵙ 3.65 ᵙ 2.40

500 g ᵙ 3.48 ᵙ 3.28 ᵙ 3.31 ᵙ 3.69 ᵙ 3.02 ᵙ 3.14

At failure:
Table 4. Stress
Stress of Stress of
Rubber band Rubber band 2 Stress of Stress of Stress of Stress of
Weight
1 (Room (Room Rubber band 3 Rubber band 4 Rubber band 5 Rubber band 6
of sand
Temperture - Temperture - (Cold - Thin) (Cold - Thick) (Hot - Thin) (Hot - Thick)
Thin) Thick)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 g 0.0306961105 19,469.450 30,696.1105 19,469.450 30,696.1105 19,469.450
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
88
𝑚2
32𝑚2 8𝑚2 32𝑚2 8𝑚2 32𝑚2
20 g 0.05844507 37,057.029 58,425.2303 37,057.029 58,425.2303 37,057.029
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
886𝑚2 65 𝑚2 7𝑚2 65 𝑚2 7𝑚2 65 𝑚2
50 g 0.14161249 89,819.769 141,612.499 89,819.769 141,612.499 89,819.769
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
93𝑚2 65𝑚2 3𝑚2 65𝑚2 3𝑚2 65𝑚2
100 g 0.28025798 177,757.66 280,257.985 177,757.66 280,257.985 177,757.66
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
52𝑚2 43𝑚2 2𝑚2 43𝑚2 2𝑚2 43𝑚2
150 g 0.41890347 248,632.54 392,001.413 248,632.54 392,001.413 248,632.54
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
11𝑚2 33𝑚2 3𝑚2 33𝑚2 3𝑚2 33𝑚2
200 g 0.55754895 353,633.45 557,548.957 353,633.45 557,548.957 353,633.45
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
7𝑚2 76𝑚2 76𝑚2 76𝑚2
𝑚2 𝑚2
250 g 0.69810775 442,784.89 698,107.750 442,784.89 698,107.750 442,784.89
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
06𝑚2 73𝑚2 6𝑚2 73𝑚2 6𝑚2 73𝑚2
300 g 0.77290971 530,722.79 836,753.236 530,722.79 836,753.236 530,722.79
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
8𝑚2 39𝑚2 5𝑚2 39𝑚2 5𝑚2 39𝑚2
350 g 0.97539872 618,660.69 975,398.722 618,660.69 975,398.722 618,660.69
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
24𝑚2 06𝑚2 4𝑚2 06𝑚2 4𝑚2 06𝑚2
400 g 1.11404420 706,598.58 1,114,044.2 706,598.58 1,114,044.2 706,598.58
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
8𝑚2 73𝑚2 08𝑚2 73𝑚2 08𝑚2 73𝑚2
450 g 1.25268964 794,536.48 1,252,689.6 794,536.48 1,252,689.6 794,536.48
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
4𝑚2 39𝑚2 94𝑚2 39𝑚2 94𝑚2 39𝑚2
500 g 1.39233518 882,474.38 1,391,335.1 882,474.38 1,391,335.1 882,474.38
𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁 𝑁
06𝑚2 8𝑚2 06𝑚2 8𝑚2 06𝑚2
𝑚2
At
failure
Calculations:
VII. Discussion of Results with Theory

With the application of the theory of entropy and its connection with the elasticity of the
rubber band and the theory of entropy, it can be said that the higher the temperature the higher the
entropy level and lower the orderliness of the molecules that make up the rubber. Rubber bands in
general stretch more in the presence of heat as Frye states, “rubber contracts when it gets colder.
The molecules in the rubber band get closer together and thus affects the elasticity. This means
that the band will not be able to stretch as far or support as much weight. We will need to make
sure that all these factors remain constant throughout the experiment to present the most valid
results. Furthermore, rubbers are polymeric materials characterized by their reversible deformation
ability due to external deforming forces acting upon it. By nature, its elasticity is entropic and
which results from the ability of rubber macromolecules to form more organized state under the
influence of deforming forces without altering or deforming the chemical bonds between the atoms
of the polymer chains nor their valence angles (Matador Rubber, 2007). Treloar (2006) explained
that the elasticity of rubber does not arise from forces between molecules in the ordinary sense
rather, it arises from the thermal energy of the constituent atoms in the long-chain molecule.So,
vulcanization or putting the rubber in the presence of heat will allow it to be stretched further
without breaking (CEC 2007).Opposite to this, is when rubber is exposed to cold temperature or
when iced making it contract. This is because the molecules in the rubber band get closer together
thus affecting its elasticity (Frye, 2001). This contrast can be observed in “Table 2. Length of
Rubber Band Samples” in which the rubber bands that were submerged in hot water has stretched
more than the rubber bands that were submerged in the cold water.
VIII. Significance of the Experiment:

To conduct an experiment about stress and strain of a rubber band is highly significant since
rubber, in general, is widely used in every aspect of an individual’s life may it be in work or at
home.

Due to the experiment, it was important to know the tensile stress and strain of the rubber
band to know its performance under certain conditions like the difference in temperature.
Moreover, knowledge about its performance can be an essential factor to know the limitations of
rubber in application to machines or mechanisms used in the industry.

It was also important to be aware of the performance of certain materials or as used in this
experiment, rubber bands, to be able to apply it properly to processes used in the industry. Through
this, people would be aware when the rubber bands would cause a failure and on how to devise a
plan to counteract the possible consequence of that failure.