Estimating the Young’s Modulus of spaghetti with a buckling experiment

The Young’s Modulus of a structural material is a measure of its elasticity and is defined as the ratio of the tensile stress to tensile strain. This study aims to investigate a specific property of the material qualities of pasta through buckling – Young’s Modulus. Buckling across three pasta diameters and four different lengths is investigated. A force is applied from the top using a finger until buckling was observed and the weight was measured. The values recorded for applied force and other available values were used to determine the Young’s modulus of San Giorgio pasta. The Young’s modulus averaged over the different diameters s 5.07 ± 1.7 GPa. It is unknown how broadly these findings apply since other brands, which may use different recipes, may result in different Young’s Moduli. Ultimately, our results may assist in quality control during manufacture and serve as useful information for the secondary purpose of educational applications of pasta, where the material is used as structural members in bridges, towers, and other engineered objects.