An elementary molecular-statistical basis for the Mooney and Rivlin-Saunders theories of rubber elasticity

By relaxing the assumption that the end-to-end vectors of molecules transform as macroscopic material line elements, we arrive at a generalization of the molecular-statistical theory of rubber elasticity. This generalization includes as special cases continuum-mechanical theories proposed by Mooney and by Rivlin and Saunders as improvements upon the classical neo-Hookean theory.