- #1
Jay520
What does "cross section area" mean when dealing with stress/strain?
For clarification, here is an example problem:
A circular steel wire 2 m long must stretch no more than 0.25 cm when a tensile force of 400 N is applied to each end of the wire. What minimum diameter is required for the wire?
Relevant equations
FL = YA(ΔL)Apparently, the cross section area for this object is simply pi*r^2 (as for any circle). Can someone tell me exactly what the cross section area is supposed to refer to? I thought it was the area of the plane of the object perpendicular to the applied force, but apparently I'm wrong or not understanding something properly.
Homework Statement
For clarification, here is an example problem:
A circular steel wire 2 m long must stretch no more than 0.25 cm when a tensile force of 400 N is applied to each end of the wire. What minimum diameter is required for the wire?
Relevant equations
FL = YA(ΔL)Apparently, the cross section area for this object is simply pi*r^2 (as for any circle). Can someone tell me exactly what the cross section area is supposed to refer to? I thought it was the area of the plane of the object perpendicular to the applied force, but apparently I'm wrong or not understanding something properly.
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