Elasticity of ice

Abstract

ApPARENTLY the onl'y previous experiments made to determine the modulus of elasticity of ice are those of Benjamin Bevan.* He went to a pond where the ice was about ten centimeters thick and sawed one end and two sides of' a beam, leaving the other end attached to the main body of ice. He then loaded the free end and obtained the absolute modulus 54xlO·. Nothing is said about the ice returning to its first position when the load was removed, nor of the deflection due to the weight of the beam itself. As the weight of the beam was four or five times the heaviest weight used, this deflection would be q llite appreciable. The 10v"er surface of the ice apparently rested on the water of the pond which prevented it from deflecting as far as it would have done. The upward pressure of the water would in part counterbalance the effect of the weight of the beam. lIfethods of Obse1'vr;ttion.We first endeavored to obtain the modulus by a direct pull on a bar. For this purpose water was put in brass tubes closed at one end and boiled so as to expel bubbles of air, then frozen, sometimes artificiall'y. but generall'y by placing the tubes out of the window and allowing the water to freeze naturall'y. '1'he *