The ability to deform and be hammered into shape under stress without breaking relates to which property?

• A. Malleability
• B. Ductility
• C. Toughness
• D. Hardness

Answer: (A)

This describes malleability. It’s about a material’s ability to undergo plastic deformation when subjected to compressive forces, like hammering or rolling, without cracking. Metals that are malleable can rearrange their internal structure under pressure to take on new shapes, which is why sheets and foils are made from them. This is different from ductility, which is about drawing a material into wires under tension; toughness, meanwhile, measures how much energy a material can absorb before fracturing, and hardness is about resistance to indentation. Materials such as gold or lead exemplify malleability because they bend and flatten under hammering without breaking.