Materials show varying behaviors based on their Poisson's ratio. High Poisson's ratio materials (near 0.5) contract significantly sideways when stretched and expand when compressed, seen in substances like rubber. Low Poisson's ratio materials (near 0) undergo minimal width change during axial deformation, typical of metals and common engineering materials.
A negative of a vector represents the direction opposite to the reference direction. It means that the magnitude of two vectors are same but they are opposite in direction.
For example, if A and B are two vectors that have equal magnitude but opposite in direction, then vector A is negative of vector B.
It is theoretically possible for a substance to have a negative value of cubical expansivity, which means that the substance would contract rather than expand when the temperature increases. However, it is very rare for a substance to have a negative value of cubical expansivity over a significant range of temperatures.
One example of a substance that has a negative value of cubical expansivity over a limited range of temperatures is water. Water has a positive value of cubical expansivity at...
