Bulk modulus

The bulk modulus ${\displaystyle K}$  (which is usually positive) can be formally defined by the equation

${\displaystyle K=-V{\frac {dP}{dV}},}$ 

where ${\displaystyle P}$  is pressure, ${\displaystyle V}$  is the initial volume of the substance, and ${\displaystyle dP/dV}$  denotes the derivative of pressure with respect to volume. Since the volume is inversely proportional to the density, it follows that

${\displaystyle K=\rho {\frac {dP}{d\rho }},}$ 

where ${\displaystyle \rho }$  is the initial density and ${\displaystyle dP/d\rho }$  denotes the derivative of pressure with respect to density. The inverse of the bulk modulus gives a substance's compressibility. Generally the bulk modulus is defined at constant temperature as the isothermal bulk modulus, but can also be defined at constant entropy as the adiabatic bulk modulus.

Strictly speaking, the bulk modulus is a thermodynamic quantity, and in order to specify a bulk modulus it is necessary to specify how the pressure varies during compression: constant-temperature (isothermal ${\displaystyle K_{T}}$ ), constant-entropy (isentropic ${\displaystyle K_{S}}$ ), and other variations are possible. Such distinctions are especially relevant for gases.

For an ideal gas, an isentropic process has:

${\displaystyle PV^{\gamma }={\text{constant}}\Rightarrow P\propto \left({\frac {1}{V}}\right)^{\gamma }\propto \rho ^{\gamma },}$ 

where ${\displaystyle \gamma }$  is the heat capacity ratio. Therefore, the isentropic bulk modulus ${\displaystyle K_{S}}$  is given by

${\displaystyle K_{S}=\gamma P.}$ 

Similarly, an isothermal process of an ideal gas has:

${\displaystyle PV={\text{constant}}\Rightarrow P\propto {\frac {1}{V}}\propto \rho ,}$ 

Therefore, the isothermal bulk modulus ${\displaystyle K_{T}}$  is given by

${\displaystyle K_{T}=P}$  .

When the gas is not ideal, these equations give only an approximation of the bulk modulus. In a fluid, the bulk modulus ${\displaystyle K}$  and the density ${\displaystyle \rho }$  determine the speed of sound ${\displaystyle c}$  (pressure waves), according to the Newton-Laplace formula

${\displaystyle c={\sqrt {\frac {K}{\rho }}}.}$ 

In solids, ${\displaystyle K_{S}}$  and ${\displaystyle K_{T}}$  have very similar values. Solids can also sustain transverse waves: for these materials one additional elastic modulus, for example the shear modulus, is needed to determine wave speeds.

It is possible to measure the bulk modulus using powder diffraction under applied pressure. It is a property of a fluid which shows its ability to change its volume under its pressure.

A material with a bulk modulus of 35 GPa loses one percent of its volume when subjected to an external pressure of 0.35 GPa (~3500 bar) (assumed constant or weakly pressure dependent bulk modulus).

Since linear elasticity is a direct result of interatomic interaction, it is related to the extension/compression of bonds. It can then be derived from the interatomic potential for crystalline materials.^[9] First, let us examine the potential energy of two interacting atoms. Starting from very far points, they will feel an attraction towards each other. As they approach each other, their potential energy will decrease. On the other hand, when two atoms are very close to each other, their total energy will be very high due to repulsive interaction. Together, these potentials guarantee an interatomic distance that achieves a minimal energy state. This occurs at some distance a₀, where the total force is zero:

${\displaystyle F=-{\partial U \over \partial r}=0}$ 

Where U is interatomic potential and r is the interatomic distance. This means the atoms are in equilibrium.

To extend the two atoms approach into solid, consider a simple model, say, a 1-D array of one element with interatomic distance of a, and the equilibrium distance is a₀. Its potential energy-interatomic distance relationship has similar form as the two atoms case, which reaches minimal at a₀, The Taylor expansion for this is:

${\displaystyle u($a)=u(a_{0})+\left({\partial u \over \partial r}\right)_{r=a_{0}}(a-a_{0})+{1 \over 2}\left({\partial ^{2} \over \partial r^{2}}u\right)_{r=a_{0}}(a-a_{0})^{2}+O\left((a-a_{0})^{3}\right)}  

At equilibrium, the first derivative is 0, so the dominant term is the quadratic one. When displacement is small, the higher order terms should be omitted. The expression becomes:

${\displaystyle u($a)=u(a_{0})+{1 \over 2}\left({\partial ^{2} \over \partial r^{2}}u\right)_{r=a_{0}}(a-a_{0})^{2}}  

${\displaystyle F($a)=-{\partial u \over \partial r}=\left({\partial ^{2} \over \partial r^{2}}u\right)_{r=a_{0}}(a-a_{0})}  

Which is clearly linear elasticity.

Note that the derivation is done considering two neighboring atoms, so the Hook's coefficient is:

${\displaystyle K=a_{0}{dF \over dr}=a_{0}\left({\partial ^{2} \over \partial r^{2}}u\right)_{r=a_{0}}}$ 

This form can be easily extended to 3-D case, with volume per atom(Ω) in place of interatomic distance.

${\displaystyle K=\Omega _{0}\left({\partial ^{2} \over \partial \Omega ^{2}}u\right)_{\Omega =\Omega _{0}}}$ 

• Elasticity tensor
• Volumetric strain

• De Jong, Maarten; Chen, Wei (2015). "Charting the complete elastic properties of inorganic crystalline compounds". Scientific Data. 2: 150009. Bibcode:2013NatSD...2E0009D. doi:10.1038/sdata.2015.9. PMC 4432655. PMID 25984348.