Bend or Shatter

Elastic, plastic and brittle

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Elastic deformation springs back; plastic deformation is permanent.
• Ductile materials like steel yield and stretch before breaking; brittle ones like glass snap.
• Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension, so it’s reinforced with steel.

Steps

1. The stress–strain curve
2. Safe load
3. Steel in concrete
4. Tough or strong?
5. Stress in a rod
6. Silk versus steel