Giordano Riccati in the context of Jacopo Riccati

Young's modulus (or the Young modulus) is a mechanical property of solid materials that measures the tensile or compressive stiffness when the force is applied lengthwise. It is the elastic modulus for tension or axial compression. Young's modulus is defined as the quotient of the stress (force per unit area) applied to the object and the resulting axial strain (a dimensionless quantity that quantifies relative deformation) in the linear elastic region of the material. As such, Young's modulus is similar to and proportional to the spring constant in Hooke's law, but with dimensions of pressure instead of force per distance.

Although Young's modulus is named after the 19th-century British scientist Thomas Young, the concept was developed in 1727 by Leonhard Euler. The first experiments that used the concept of Young's modulus in its modern form were performed by the Italian scientist Giordano Riccati in 1782, pre-dating Young's work by 25 years. The term modulus is derived from the Latin root term modus, which means measure.