There are mainly three types of stress in physics-

1. Tensile stress or Normal stress: Tensile stress or normal stress is defined as the stress, when the force F acts normal to the surface of the material to a cross-sectional area A. The formula of tensile or normal or longitudinal stress is, Normal stress=FA. Normal stress is also known as longitudinal stress.

2. Shear Stress or Tangential stress: Shear stress or tangential stress is defined as the stress where the forces F act tangentially to the opposite ends of an object of surface area A. The formula of shear or tangential stress is, Tangential Stress=FA.

3. Bulk stress or Volumetric stress: Bulk stress or volume stress is defined as the force which acts tangentially on the surface of a body which causes a change in its volume or pressure. This stress symbol is, ∆p where p is pressure which can be written as p=F/A.