Meaning & use
bulk modulus
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablephysicstechnical
a measure of how strongly a material resists being squeezed so that its volume shrinks.
Grammar: Countable: a large bulk modulus; the bulk modulus of a material is measured in pascals.
Patterns
- the bulk modulus of something
- a high/low bulk modulus
- measure the bulk modulus
Water has a relatively high bulk modulus, which is why it is hard to compress.
Engineers chose the alloy because its bulk modulus stays steady at high pressure.
The bulk modulus tells you how much the volume changes when the pressure rises.
Word forms
| plural | bulk moduli |
|---|
Common combinations
- a high bulk modulus
- Diamond has a very high bulk modulus and resists compression well.
- the bulk modulus of a material
- Scientists measured the bulk modulus of the new material under pressure.
- bulk modulus and density
- Sound travels faster in liquids with a high bulk modulus and low density.
- calculate the bulk modulus
- Students had to calculate the bulk modulus from the pressure and volume data.
Synonyms and how they differ
- incompressibility
- A general word for the quality of being hard to squeeze; the bulk modulus is the precise number that measures it.
Word family
- modulus noun
- a number that measures a particular property of a material, such as stiffness.
- elastic modulus noun
- a related measure of how a material stretches or bends under force.
- compressibility noun
- the opposite idea: how easily a material's volume can be reduced.
Commonly confused: bulk modulus or Young's modulus? bulk modulus or modulus?
bulk modulus vs Young's modulus
Young's modulus measures how a material stretches lengthwise, while the bulk modulus measures how it resists being squeezed in all directions at once.
bulk modulus vs modulus
On its own, 'modulus' is a general term used in several fields, so always say 'bulk modulus' when you mean this specific property.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'bulk modulus' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The bulk modulus measures resistance to a change in volume, so option 1 is right. Option 0 describes bending, which is Young's modulus; option 2 confuses it with a financial term; option 3 gives a length, which is not what this quantity measures.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bulk modulus”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.