What is the Young's Modulus of Aluminum, Steel, and Brass?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on calculating the Young's modulus for aluminum, steel, and brass using experimental data. The original calculations yielded results significantly higher than expected, prompting a review of the variables and methodology. Key issues identified included potential errors in measuring beam thickness and deflection. After recalculating with more precise measurements, the results aligned more closely with known values for the materials. The participant concluded that the adjustments improved accuracy, marking the issue as resolved.
Edward Trail
Messages
10
Reaction score
1

Homework Statement


hi guys

I am conducting an experiment for my coursework in physics and i have come across a bit of a problem. i am trying to calculate the youngs modulus of 3 different metals Aluminium steel and brass. To calculate the modulus of the material i am using a chart of Mass k/g against the deflection thus giving me the gradient.

i am going wrong somwhere as i am getting a result of double the normal GPa for each item i.e 320Gpa instead of 140. see below data and charts that i have created.

Homework Equations



S=L3/WT3 which is 1796850000 for all metal strips
E=4Sg x gradient of graph

The Attempt at a Solution


Here is a printscreen of my results, have i graphed them correctly?
upload_2017-3-10_11-53-17.png
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Can you please define the variables in your equations, and also tell us the type of supports and the location of the load in your beam deflection experiments.
 
Hi chestermiller
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly.
The variables are
L=o.33
W=0.025
T=0.001
All are in metres. We used a simple g clamp and measured from the point of suspension.

Hope this clears it up a bit.
 
So, it is a cantilevered beam, right? What does g stand for in your equation?
 
Yes it is.it is for gravity
 
I get a different value than you for S. And, those deflections can't be in meters. At most, they are in cm.

I confirm your equation for the modulus.
 
hi chestermiller

ah i seee i rounded 0.025 to 0.02, not sure why, it should be 1437480000. the Deflection is in metres i think the table results are unclear. the deflections are on the left. as i have done P0 -P50 etc so with 50 grams on the beam gives a deflection of 1cm or 0.01 mtrs. the only problem is that the GPa for steel is arround 200GPa. given my gradient is 5.4457 then my GPa for steel is 5.4457x9.81x4x1437480000=3.07x10^11 to 2 dp. which is 307GPa, even factoring in my error percentage which is arround 12 percent which is 36.86 GPa it is no where near the known value. should i be worried about this?

Many Thanks

Edward Trail
 
How accurate is Rhee thickness? Could it be 1.1 mm?
 
i used a pair of verniers which measures to a thousanth of a mm but the only problem was the angle at which the verniers gripped the beams. as it did vary from 1mm to 1.3 dependant on the agnle, do you think this could be the issue?
 
  • #10
Edward Trail said:
i used a pair of verniers which measures to a thousanth of a mm but the only problem was the angle at which the verniers gripped the beams. as it did vary from 1mm to 1.3 dependant on the agnle, do you think this could be the issue?
What is 1.3 to the 3rd power?
 
  • #11
oh i think that is what the problem is i have just calculated it for 1.3mm thickness and found out that my GPa is now 1.398x10^11 which is pretty close when considering my error percentage. i think I am going to have to measure the thickness again for each one
 
  • #12
Edward Trail said:
oh i think that is what the problem is i have just calculated it for 1.3mm thickness and found out that my GPa is now 1.398x10^11 which is pretty close when considering my error percentage. i think I am going to have to measure the thickness again for each one
It looks like you've got it figured out.
 
  • #13
okay so I've just re measured them now its only a slight difference but noted down more decimal points does it check out for you. its now within the range of the recomended GPA of each material.
upload_2017-3-10_20-32-25.png


sorry if the image is blurry i can zoom in if needed
 
  • #14
I can't read it too well. But, in my judgment, you've pretty well analyzed this as much as it will permit.
 
  • #15
Thanks very much ill mark this as resolved

cheers
 

Similar threads

Back
Top