Material BehaviourThe vocabulary for how materials fail, and what each word means.PhysicsTerms and their precise meanings.TermMeansBrittleBreaks with little plastic deformationDuctileCan be drawn into a wire — large plastic deformationMalleableCan be hammered into sheetsToughAbsorbs energy before fractureHardResists surface indentationStiffHigh Young's modulusStrongHigh breaking stressGlass is hard and brittle. Rubber is tough and not stiff. Hard and toughare close to opposites.Material Behaviourlearnposters.com
Material Behaviour — printable physical science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

What’s on the Material Behaviour poster

A 7-row table: Term · Means.

Terms and their precise meanings.

Glass is hard and brittle. Rubber is tough and not stiff. Hard and tough are close to opposites.

Questions about the Material Behaviour poster

What’s on the Material Behaviour poster?
A 7-row table: Term · Means. Terms and their precise meanings. Brittle — Breaks with little plastic deformation; Ductile — Can be drawn into a wire — large plastic deformation; Malleable — Can be hammered into sheets; Tough — Absorbs energy before fracture; Hard — Resists surface indentation; Stiff — High Young's modulus; Strong — High breaking stress. Glass is hard and brittle. Rubber is tough and not stiff. Hard and tough are close to opposites.
Who is the Material Behaviour poster for?
Material Behaviour belongs to the Physics section rather than to a school year, because physical science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning mechanics can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Material Behaviour poster?
Brittle, ductile, tough and hard are four different properties. They are routinely confused. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Material Behaviour belongs on the wall where that physical science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Material Behaviour?
Circular Motion, Free Body Diagrams and Friction & Drag sit alongside Material Behaviour in the Physics section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Circular MotionFree Body DiagramsFriction & Drag
Is the Material Behaviour poster free to download and print?
Yes. Material Behaviour downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Physics section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Material Behaviour poster print at?
Material Behaviour is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Material Behaviour loses nothing.Printing guide

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