x

Comparing materials fairly

Vertical Young modulus experiment showing a clamped wire with labelled length L, diameter d, extension delta L, area inset, and a hanging mass causing tensile force F Young modulus tells you how stiff a material is, not how stiff one particular wire happens to be. A thick steel cable and a thin steel string can stretch very differently under the same load, but the material can still have one Young modulus.

The Young modulus Lesson