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Tenacity and elasticity

Short answer

Tenacity is the resistance to fracture under tensile load (tensile strength); wrought iron, mild steel and timber along grain are tenacious. Elasticity is the ability to regain original shape after load removal, following Hooke's law; steel is elastic, clay and lead are plastic.

Write short notes on tenacity and elasticity as properties of materials.

Tenacity

Tenacity is the property of a material to resist fracture under a tensile (pulling) load, i.e. its tensile strength. It is the maximum tensile stress a material can bear before it breaks. Wrought iron, mild steel and timber along the grain are tenacious.

Elasticity

Elasticity is the property of a material to regain its original shape and size completely after the external load is removed. Within the elastic limit, stress is proportional to strain (Hooke's law):

E=stressstrainE = \frac{\text{stress}}{\text{strain}}

EE is the modulus of elasticity. Steel is nearly perfectly elastic up to its elastic limit, whereas clay and lead are almost plastic.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

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