Chapter 1
PROPERTIES OF MATTER
“Failure is central to engineering.
Every single calculation that an
engineer makes is a failure
calculation. Successful engineering is
all about understanding how things
break or fail.”Henry Petroski
Professor of Engineering and History
at Duke University, USA.Syllabus:
Elasticity – Stress-strain diagram and its uses - factors a ecting elastic
modulus and tensile strength – torsional stress and deformations – twisting
couple - torsion pendulum: theory and experiment - bending of beams -
bending moment – cantilever: theory and experiment – uniform and non-
uniform bending: theory and experiment - I-shaped girders - stress due to
bending in beams.1.1 Introduction...................................
What do we mean by “properties of matter” and why do we study them? We know that
the physical universe, of which we too are constituents, is made up of matter and energy
which are interconvertible, as shown by Albert Einstein in the beginning of the 20th
century. Those entities in the universe which need space to occupy and possess mass are
called “matter” or “material”. However, in engineering and technology, the terms “matter”
and “material” are used in a more restricted sense to denote the stu that are useful in
engineering contexts for making devices, structures, machines, etc. such as automobiles,
buildings, computers, and so on. Engineering materials and their applications are all
pervasive in our day to day lives - transportation, housing, clothing, communication,