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1. A force of 17, 200 N is exerted perpendicularly against a surface of area 0.136 m2.
Find the stress.
2. What force is needed to provide a stress of 726 kPa on a surface of area 2.82 cm2 ?
3. A cylinder of rock has a length of 5.82 cm a diameter of 2.14 cm. Oppositely
directed axial forces of 14.8 kN each are exerted against the ends. Find the stress.
4. What must be the length, in centimeters, of the sides of a square surface on which a
force of 41.2 kN supplies a load of 37.2 MPa?
5. A cylinder of rock has length 12.6 cm, density 2.77 g/cm3 and mass 324 g. The
cylinder is under an axial compressive stress of 28.1 MPa. Find the axial force
being applied to the cylinder.
6. In a certain region where subsurface rocks have density 3.08 g/cm3, what is the
lithostatic stress at a depth of 4.75 km ?
7. Find the unit weight of subsurface rocks if the vertical stress is 9.00 MPa at a depth
of 366 m.
8. By how much does the vertical stress at a depth of 1.22 km exceed the stress at a
depth of 840 m if the underground rocks have density 2420 kg/m3 ?
9. A block of density 3.10 g/cm3 and edge lengths 8.30 m, 3.20 m, 4.50 m sits on top
of a pillar with a square cross section of edge length 23 cm. Find the stress exerted
by the block on the top of the pillar.
10. A block of rock with edge lengths 1.63 m, 2.17 m, 1.44 m sits on top of a column
that has a cross-sectional area 0.214 m2. The stress on the top of the column due to
the weight of the block equals 743 kPa. Find the unit weight of the rock making up
the block.
11. A block of rock with a density of 2330 kg/m3 and a volume of 7.81 m3 sits on top of
a 3.66 m high column with a square cross section. The compressive stress on the
top of the column due to the weight of the block is 4.94 MPa. Find the total surface
area of the sides of the column.
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12. At the face of a mountain of granite, large joints (fractures) often develop, the joints
being parallel to the face of the mountain. In one such situation shown in the
figure, a fracture appears at a distance h=35.0 cm into the face of the mountain.
Due to erosion at the foot of the mountain, the outermost sheet of granite,
A = 2.55 m in length and w=1.63 m in width (normal to page), is subject to sliding.
The elevation angle of the mountain is θ = 38.0D . The granite has density
ρ = 2.64 g / cm 3 . Find the smallest shear stress that must exist along the fracture to
hold the sheet of granite in place.
13. At what depth, below the ground surface in Fig. is the value of the vertical stress
equal to 6.08 MPa ?
14. The phase diagram of carbon, fig shows the ranges of temperature and pressure in
which carbon will crystallize either as diamond or graphite. What is the minimum
depth at which diamonds can form if the local temperature is 1000°C and the
subsurface rocks have density 3.1 g/cm3?
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15. Explorers seeking a hidden underground tomb walk slowly along a secret tunnel
that slopes downward at 25.88°, as shown in the figure. The surrounding rock has
a unit weight of 24.6 kN/m3 and unconfined compressive strength 33.7 MPa. The
explorers have been warned not to go past the point where the vertical stress equals
25.0% of the unconfined compressive strength of the rocks. How far along the
tunnel can the explorers walk before reaching point?
16. The tensile strength of a rock can be measured directly by cementing a metal cap to
each end of a cylinder of the rock and applying equal tensile forces F to these caps,
which ensure that the force is applied uniformly over the ends of the cylinder; see
the figure. Diabase rock from Yew York has a tensile strength of 5.1 MPa, one of
the highest tensile strengths of any rock.
(a) What tensile force must be applied to a cylinder of this diabase 14.3 cm long
and 12.0 cm in diameter to cause failure ?
(b) Steel has a tensile strength of 365 MPa. Find the diameter of the thinnest steel
cylinder that can sustain the tensile force found in (a).
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