What are brittle solids?

A brittle solid may be defined as one having a tenacity small in comparison with its rigidity. Such a material readily yields new surface by shattering under random impulsive or crushing forces producing deformation by action at the boundary.

What is a brittle material?

Brittleness describes the property of a material that fractures when subjected to stress but has a little tendency to deform before rupture. Brittle materials are characterized by little deformation, poor capacity to resist impact and vibration of load, high compressive strength, and low tensile strength.

What is an example of brittle?

Brittle materials include glass, ceramic, graphite, and some alloys with extremely low plasticity, in which cracks can initiate without plastic deformation and can soon evolve into brittle breakage.

Does brittle mean hard or soft?

Brittle means something breaks very suddenly. The opposite (ductile) means it will deform before it breaks. Hard means it will resist being stretched or bent. Soft means it will give way pretty easily.

How is something hard and brittle?

In order to change the shape of a material, it is necessary to break chemical bonds between its atoms; stronger bonds therefore make a harder material. Diamonds are brittle precisely because they are so hard! Hardness is the ability of a material to resist plastic deformation.

Are nonmetals brittle?

Physical Properties of nonmetals: Non-Malleable and Ductile: Non-metals are very brittle, and cannot be rolled into wires or pounded into sheets. Conduction: They are poor conductors of heat and electricity.

What is called brittle?

having hardness and rigidity but little tensile strength; breaking readily with a comparatively smooth fracture, as glass. easily damaged or destroyed; fragile; frail: a brittle marriage. having a sharp, tense quality: a brittle tone of voice.

Why are hard objects brittle?

A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it fractures with little elastic deformation and without significant plastic deformation. When used in materials science, it is generally applied to materials that fail when there is little or no plastic deformation before failure.