MECHANICS OF SOLIDS AND FLUIDS Matter is a substance, which has certain mass and occupies some volume.

Matter exists in three states namely solid, liquid and gas. Each state of matter has some distinct properties. For example a solid has both volume and shape. It has elastic properties. A gas has the volume of the closed container in which it is kept. A liquid has a fixed volume at a given temperature, but no shape. These distinct properties are due to two factors: (i) interatomic or intermolecular forces (ii) the agitation or random motion of molecules due to temperature. In solids, the atoms and molecules are free to vibrate about their mean positions. If this vibration increases sufficiently, molecules will shake apart and start vibrating in random directions. At this stage, the shape of the material is no longer fixed, but takes the shape of its container. This is liquid state. Due to increase in their energy, if the molecules vibrate at even greater rates, they may break away from one another and assume gaseous state. Water is the best example for this changing of states. Ice is the solid form of water. With increase in temperature, ice melts into water due to increase in molecular vibration. If water is heated, a stage is reached where continued molecular vibration results in a separation among the water molecules and therefore steam is produced. Further continued heating causes the molecules to break into atoms.

Elasticity When an external force is applied on a body, which is not free to move, there will be a relative displacement of the particles. Due to the property of elasticity, the particles tend to regain their original position. The external forces may produce change in length, volume and shape of the body. This external force which produces these changes in the body is called deforming force. A body which experiences such a force is called deformed body. When the deforming force is removed, the body regains its original state due to the force developed within the body. This force is called restoring force. The property of a material to regain its original state when the deforming force is removed is called elasticity. The bodies which possess this property are called elastic bodies. Bodies which do not exhibit the property of elasticity are called plastic. The study of mechanical properties helps us to select the material for specific purposes. For example, springs are made of steel because steel is highly elastic. Stress and strain

In a deformed body, restoring force is set up within the body which tends to bring the body back to the normal position. The magnitude of these restoring force depends upon the deformation caused. This restoring force per unit area of a deformed body is known as stress. Stress = restoring force / area N m2 Due to the application of deforming force, length, volume or shape of a body changes. Or in other words, the body is said to be strained. Thus, strain produced in a body is defined as the ratio of change in dimension of a body to the original dimension. Strain = change in dimension / original dimension Strain is the ratio of two similar quantities. Therefore it has no unit. Elastic limit If an elastic material is stretched or compressed beyond a certain limit, it will not regain its original state and will remain deformed. The limit beyond which permanent deformation occurs is called the elastic limit. Hookes law English Physicist Robert Hooke (1635 - 1703) in the year 1676 put forward the relation between the extension produced in a wire and the restoring force developed in it. The law formulated on the basis of this study is known as Hookes law. According to Hookes law, within the elastic limit, strain produced in a body is directly proportional to the stress that produces it. (i.e) stress strain Stress /Strain= a constant, known as modulus of elasticity. Its unit is N m-2 Molecular range and sphere of influence Molecular range is the maximum distance upto which a molecule can exert force of attraction on another molecule. It is of the order of 109 m for solids and liquids. Sphere of influence is a sphere drawn around a particular molecule as centre and molecular range as radius. Surface tension of a liquid Surface tension is the property of the free surface of a liquid at rest to behave like a stretched membrane in order to acquire minimum surface area.

Imagine a line AB in the free surface of a liquid at rest .

The force of surface tension is measured as the force acting per unit length on eitherside of this imaginary line AB. The force is perpendicular to the line and tangential to the liquid surface. If F is the force acting on the length l of the line AB, then surface tension is given by T = F/ l. Surface tension is defined as the force per unit length acting perpendicular on an imaginary line drawn on the liquid surface, tending to pull the surface apart along the line. Its unit is N m1 Molecular theory of surface tension Consider two molecules P and Q as shown in Fig. Taking them as centers and molecular range as radius, a sphere of influence is drawn around them. The molecule P is attracted in all directions equally by neighbouring molecules. Therefore net force acting on P is zero. The molecule Q is on the free surface of the liquid. It experiences a net downward force because the number of molecules in the lower half of the sphere is more and the upper half is completely outside the surface of the liquid. Therefore all the molecules lying on the surface of a liquid experience only a net downward force.

If a molecule from the interior is to be brought to the surface of the liquid, work must be done against this downward force. This work done on the molecule is stored as potential energy. For equilibrium, a system must possess minimum potential energy. So, the free surface will have minimum potential energy. The free surface of a liquid tends to assume minimum surface area by contracting and remains in a state of tension like a stretched elastic membrane.

Capillarity

The property of surface tension gives rise to an interesting phenomenon called capillarity. When a capillary tube is dipped in water, the water rises up in the tube. The level of water in the tube is above the free surface of water in the beaker (capillary rise). When a capillary tube is dipped in mercury, mercury also rises in the tube. But the level of mercury is depressed below the free surface of mercury in the beaker (capillary fall). The rise of a liquid in a capillary tube is known as capillarity. The height h indicates the capillary rise (for water) or capillary fall (for mercury). Illustrations of capillarity (i) A blotting paper absorbs ink by capillary action. The pores in the blotting paper act as capillaries. (ii) The oil in a lamp rises up the wick through the narrow spaces between the threads of the wick. (iii)A sponge retains water due to capillary action. (iv)Walls get damped in rainy season due to absorption of water by bricks.