How to Calculate Young's Elastic Modulus

Young's modulus is an important characteristic of engineering materials such as steel.

Material science plays a major role in the development of new technologies, and the development of new materials allows man to take advantage of devices that utilize flat screens, flash drives and many other developments. Another aspect of materials that is important in engineering is elasticity. Elasticity refers to the response of a material (strain) to a force (stress). There are different types of response depending upon the direction of the stress and strain. Young's modulus is related to tensile and compressive forces and can be calculated relatively simply.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

Instructions

1. Determine the stress that the material is being placed under. Stress is a pressure and is therefore measured in pascals.

2. Determine the strain that the material is experiencing due to the stress being placed upon it. Strain is defined as the fractional change in length. For example if the length of a bar of steel is initially 10 inches and it changes to 11 inches, then strain = 11-10 / 10 =0.1.

3. Determine the Young's modulus of the material. The formula for Young's modulus is:

   Young's modulus = stress / strain.

   Simply divide the stress by the strain to get the Young's modulus.

References

• Engineeringtoolbox: Elastic Properties and Young Modulus for Some Materials