Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2020 October 10

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October 10

Elasticity and exhaustion

I've just bought a mount for my phone. It's something like "#7 AILUN Bike Phone Holder" within this page: the bulky part stays attached to the handlebar and has a bayonet fitting for an elasticky part (below, "EP") that remains on the phone while you remove the phone to make quick phone calls, go into convenience stores, etc. The assumption is that at the end of the ride you'll remove the EP too, thus restoring your phone's original svelteness.

My phone's dimensions are just at the upper limit of what are recommended by the mount manufacturer. Getting the EP to go around the phone properly is quite a stretch. The phone is fully usable while the EP remains on.

Now my question. Which is less likely to prompt degradation and failure of the EP: (A) leaving it on the phone pretty much permanently (and not pulling it around further), or (B) removing it between rides and letting it relax (but then battling with it before any ride so that it goes on properly)? -- Hoary (talk) 05:58, 10 October 2020 (UTC)

It may depend on the material, in particular whether it is self-healing. If not, then it is better to leave it on; the struggle in removing and refitting the part will only enlarge any microcracks. Otherwise, it still depends on how strong the self-healing capacity is compared to the amount of extra stretching. The common sense approach would seem to be to only remove it if you won't go for a bike ride for the next few days. That would reduce the amount of extra stretching while still allowing any self-healing magic to work its wonders.  --Lambiam 08:14, 10 October 2020 (UTC)