A rubber cord is suspended from a fixed support. A load attached to its lower end is steadily increased from zero, and then steadily decreased back to zero. The force-extension graph for contraction lies beneath the force-extension graph for stretching. What does the shaded region between the graphs represent?
- Athe elastic potential energy stored in the rubber cord
- Bthe thermal energy dissipated in the rubber cord
- Cthe work done by the rubber cord during contraction
- Dthe work done on the rubber cord during stretching