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Strain energy

 
Sci-Tech Dictionary: strain energy
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(′strān ′en·ər·jē)

(mechanics) The potential energy stored in a body by virtue of an elastic deformation, equal to the work that must be done to produce this deformation.

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Architecture: strain energy
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The work which is done in deforming a body.

Sports Science and Medicine: strain energy
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elastic energy

The ability of a body to do work because of its deformation and its tendency to return to its original shape. A fully extended bow, for example, has strain energy by virtue of the change in its shape. Strain energy is measured in joules and is given by the equation; SE = 1/2kd2, where SE is strain energy, k is a spring constant representing a material's ability to store energy on deformation, and d is the distance over which the material has been deformed.

Wikipedia: Strain energy
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For strain energy of structures, see Energy principles in structural mechanics.

In a molecule, strain energy is released when the constituent atoms are allowed to rearrange themselves in a chemical reaction or a change of chemical conformation in a way that:

are reduced [1]. The external work done on an elastic member in causing it to distort from its unstressed state is transformed into strain energy which is a form of potential energy. The strain energy in the form of elastic deformation is mostly recoverable in the form of mechanical work.

For example, the heat of combustion of cyclopropane (696 kJ/mol) is higher than that of propane (657 kJ/mol) per methylene unit. Compounds with unusually large strain energy include tetrahedranes, propellanes, cubanes, fenestranes and cyclophanes.

References

  1. ^ March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure Michael B. Smith, Jerry March Wiley-Interscience, 5th edition, 2001, ISBN 0-471-58589-0

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Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Strain energy".  Read more