Tensile Force
- Forces don’t just change the motion of a body, but can change the size and shape of them too. This is known as deformation
- Forces in opposite directions stretch or compress a body
- When two forces stretch a body, they are described as tensile
- When two forces compress a body, they are known as compressive
Tensile and Compressive forces
Tensile forces act to increase the length of an object, compressive forces act to reduce length in that given dimension
Tensile Strength
- Tensile strength is the amount of load or stress a material can handle until it stretches and breaks
- Here are some common materials and their tensile strength:
Tensile strength of various materials
MATERIAL | TENSILE STRENGTH (MPa) |
Concrete | 2 - 5 |
Rubber | 16 |
Human skin | 20 |
Glass | 33 |
Human hair | 200 |
Steel | 840 |
Diamond | 2800 |
Worked example
Cylindrical samples of steel, glass and rubber are each subjected to a gradually increasing tensile force F. The extensions e are measured and graphs are plotted as shown below. Correctly label the graphs with the materials: steel, glass, rubber.
Exam Tip
Remember to read the questions carefully in order to not confuse the terms ‘tensile stress’ and ‘tensile strain’.