EXPERIMENT NO.

4
Objective
To draw load extension curve of metallic wire and determine modulus of elasticity of metallic
wire.

Apparatus
 Steel Wire
 Meter Rod
 Weight
 Vernier Caliper

Apparatus Diagrams

Fig. 4.1 Steel Wire

Fig. 4.2 Meter Rod

 Fig. 4.3 Weight (5 Newton)

Fig. 4.4 Vernier Caliper

Theory
 Modulus of Elasticity
Modulus of elasticity (MOE) is the rate of change of unit stress with respect to unit
strain under uniaxial loading within the proportional (or elastic) limits of the material.

Elastic Modulus = Stress / Strain

 Normal Stress
Stress is defined as the force across a "small" boundary per unit area of that
boundary, for all orientations of the boundary. Being derived from a fundamental physical
quantity (force) and a purely geometrical quantity (area), stress is also a fundamental quantity,
like velocity, torque or energy.

Stress = Force / Area

  Shear Stress
A shear stress, often denoted by τ (Greek: tau), is the component of stress coplanar
with a material cross section. Shear stress arises from the force vector component parallel to the
cross section of the material.

τ =F/A

τ = the shear stress;

F = the force applied;
A = the cross-sectional area of material with area parallel to the applied force vector.

Fig. 4.5 Shear Stress in a Horizontal Bar

Procedure
The dial gauge is first checked for 0 error. The loads of 5N are subsequently added to
the hanger and the reading on the dial gauge is noted. The reading obtained is then multiplied by
the least count of the dial gauge. The loads are then subsequently unloaded and the reading is
taken again. Mean of these values is then calculated and the data is fed to the calculations table
after which a graph is obtained.

Observations And Calculations

Length of Wire = 1011 mm
Diameter of Wire = 0.7 mm

Area of Wire = = 0.3848 mm2

Stress = Load / Area = N/mm2

Strain = ▲length / length
Table

Extension (mm) ∆l
Serial Load Loading Unloaded Mean Stress= Strain Young’s
No. (N) Load/Area (▲length / Modulus
(N/mm2) length) Y=
Stress/Strain
1 10 0.5 0.5 0.5 25.987 0.000494 52545.714
2 20 0.7 0.7 0.7 51.975 0.000692 75066.75
3 30 1 1 1 77.962 0.000989 78819.582
4 40 1.1 1.1 1.1 103.950 0.001088 95539.5
5 50 1.5 1.5 1.5 129.937 0.001483 87577.538

Graph

Graph of Young's Modulus = Stress / Strain

140
129.937
120

100 103.95
Stress

80 77.962
60 Stress
51.975
40 Strain
25.987
20

0 0.000494 0.000692 0.000989 0.001088 0.001483

1 2 3 4 5 6

Strain

Slope =

Slope = 131252.52
Simulation Results

Comments
Some precautions that should be taken during the experiments in order to avoid the errors
occurred. The zero errors could be avoided by adjusting the initial reading of vernier caliper and
the dial gauge used to zero. Besides that, the loads hanger should be hung in the middle of the
beams so that there is less errors in the readings. Thirdly, we have to prevent parallax errors
while taking the readings in the dial gauge and the vernier caliper in order to get better results.