Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-soft-condensed-matter-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-b/4/b/solution

The dynamic modulus, or complex viscoelastic modulus, is the ratio of complex stress amplitude to complex strain amplitude in the periodic steady response:
This defines the sign convention; for passive response the loss modulus is nonnegative at positive frequency. A Newtonian fluid obeys , while a Hooke's law solid obeys . Hence
The first is purely dissipative and the second purely elastic. Here denotes the scalar deformation used in the problem, with any shear-versus-extension geometric factors already included in its modulus and viscosity.

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