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Question 14

An experiment is performed to investigate the deflection of a horizontal beam supported at both ends. The vertical deflection s s\,s at the midpoint of the beam when a mass m m\,m is suspended is given by the relation:

s=ηmE s = \frac{\eta m}{E} s=Eηm​

where E E\,E is the Young modulus of the material of the beam and η \eta\,η is a constant. A graph of vertical deflection sss (in mm\text{mm}mm) against the suspended mass mmm (in kg\text{kg}kg) yields a straight line through the origin. From the line of best fit, a mass of m=0.40 kgm = 0.40\text{ kg}m=0.40 kg corresponds to a vertical deflection of s=32.0 mms = 32.0\text{ mm}s=32.0 mm. Given that the Young modulus of the beam's material is E=2.25 GPaE = 2.25\text{ GPa}E=2.25 GPa, deduce the order of magnitude of η \eta\,η in s−2\text{s}^{-2}s−2.

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Materials Questions

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