Physics Lesson 4.4.1 - Elastic and non-Elastic Objects

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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Elastic and non-Elastic Objects, this is the first lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Types of Forces III (Elastic Force and Tension), you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.

Elastic and non-Elastic Objects

From experience, we know that some objects regain their original shape after a distorting force has been exerted on them. When this distorting force stops acting, the objects turn to their original dimensions. Below we have mentioned some examples in this regard.

1. When you press a balloon or a ball, they lose the original round shape but immediately after releasing them, both the balloon and the ball take again their original shape.
2. When you stretch a rubber band (as mentioned in the Introduction paragraph), it becomes longer but when you release it, the rubber band returns to its original length.
3. A spring is compressed when a force acts on it but if the force stops, the spring will turn again to its original length, etc.

All the above examples deal with elastic objects, i.e. objects that after being deformed due to the action of a distorting force, return to their original shape when this distorting force stops acting.

Examples of elastic materials include steel, rubber, sponge, bamboo tree, etc.

On the other hand, objects that remain deformed after a distorting force has acted on them, are known as non-elastic (plastic) objects. Some examples of non-elastic objects include:

1. Working with clay. It is known that clay takes the shape according to the direction of the distorting force used and it remains so when this distorting force stops acting on it.
2. Unlike steel rods, an iron rod remains in that position after being bent (steel is an elastic material while iron is not).
3. A wooden stick cannot regain its original shape after breaking it in pieces. This means wood is not an elastic material, and so on.

In fact there are three kind of materials in regard to their elastic behaviour. They are:

1. Perfectly (absolutely) elastic. These materials turn exactly at their previous shape after the restoring force stops acting on them, even if they have been used multiple times.
2. Absolutely non-elastic (plastic). These materials keep exactly the actual shape after the restoring force stops acting on them.
3. An intermediate category in which objects try to regain their original shape after the restoring force stops acting. However, they remain deformed at a certain extent. Certain alloys, in which an elastic and a non-elastic material are mixed, manifest such a behaviour.

You have reached the end of Physics lesson 4.4.1 Elastic and non-Elastic Objects. There are 4 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Types of Forces III (Elastic Force and Tension), you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

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