BRAINCAKETensile Stress
Tensile stress σ is the force applied per unit cross-sectional area: σ = F/A, where F is the tensile force and A is the cross-sectional area of the sample.
Stress has the same units as pressure: pascals (Pa), where 1 Pa = 1 N m-2. The stresses in engineering materials are often large, so MPa (106 Pa) and GPa (109 Pa) are commonly used.
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Key terms in this lesson
- pressure
- The force acting per unit area, at right angles to a surface.
More in Materials
- Elastic Potential Energy
- Metal Wire Deformation
- Rubber
- Polythene
- Tensile Strain
- Stress-Strain Graph
- The Young Modulus
- Measuring the Young Modulus
All 14 lessons in Materials · All OCR AS-level Physics topics