Young's modulus (material elasticity)
Módulo de Young (elasticidad de los materiales)
- Date
- 1807 (nombrado tras Young); precedido por Euler (1727) y Riccati (1782) · confidence low
- Place
- London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Thomas Young; the concept had earlier been formulated by Leonhard Euler (1727) and experimentally measured by Giordano Riccati (1782)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
In his 1807 lectures Young defined the relationship between the stress applied to an elastic material and the strain it produces, a measure of stiffness that ended up bearing his name despite having been anticipated by Euler and Riccati.
The name honours Young even though Euler formulated it in 1727 and Riccati measured it experimentally in 1782, 25 years before Young.
What it led to
- Modern structural calculation in civil and mechanical engineering
- Systematic characterisation of material stiffness