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Long Answer Questions · Q31

Q.Define stress and strain. What are their different types?

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✓ Free question

Step 1. Definitions. Stress is the internal restoring force set up per unit area of a body when it is deformed, Stress=F/A\text{Stress} = F/A (SI unit N/m², dimensions [L−1M1T−2][L^{-1}M^1T^{-2}]). Strain is the resulting fractional deformation, the ratio of the change in a dimension to its original value — dimensionless, with no unit.

Step 2. Tensile/compressive stress and strain. When a force acts along a rod's length, normal to its cross section, it produces tensile stress (stretching) or compressive stress (squeezing), both F/AF/A; the matching strain is tensile (longitudinal) strain, Δl/L\Delta l/L.

Step 3. Volume stress and strain. When a force acts perpendicular to, and uniformly over, a body's entire surface (e.g. immersion in a pressurised fluid), it produces volume (hydraulic) stress, F/AF/A, changing size but not shape; the matching strain is volume strain, ΔV/V\Delta V/V.

Step 4. Shearing stress and strain. When a tangential force acts on one face while the opposite face is fixed, it produces shearing stress, F/AF/A, changing shape but not size; the matching strain is shearing strain, the small tilt angle θ≈Δl/l\theta \approx \Delta l/l.

✓Final answer

Stress = internal restoring force per unit area, F/AF/A (types: tensile, compressive, volume/hydraulic, shearing). Strain = change in dimension ÷ original dimension (types: tensile/longitudinal, volume, shearing) — dimensionless, unlike stress which has SI unit N/m².

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