Strength is:

Strength is:

• A. The internal voids in a material.
• B. The ability of a material to resist deformation under an applied load.
• C. The three-dimensional array of atoms in a metal.
• D. The measure of the surface roughness after machining.

Answer: (B)

Strength is the capacity of a material to resist deformation when a load is applied. This means how much stress the material can withstand before it deforms permanently or breaks. The given statement is the best because it directly describes this resistance to deformation under load, which is the essence of what strength measures. In practice we talk about yield strength—the stress at which permanent deformation begins—and ultimate tensile strength—the maximum stress the material can sustain before failure. Other options refer to porosity (internal voids), crystal structure (three-dimensional atomic arrangement), or surface texture (machining roughness), which influence how strong a material is but are not the definition of strength itself. Note that strength isn’t the same as stiffness; a material can be strong yet not very stiff, or stiff but not very strong.

Strength is the capacity of a material to resist deformation when a load is applied. This means how much stress the material can withstand before it deforms permanently or breaks. The given statement is the best because it directly describes this resistance to deformation under load, which is the essence of what strength measures. In practice we talk about yield strength—the stress at which permanent deformation begins—and ultimate tensile strength—the maximum stress the material can sustain before failure. Other options refer to porosity (internal voids), crystal structure (three-dimensional atomic arrangement), or surface texture (machining roughness), which influence how strong a material is but are not the definition of strength itself. Note that strength isn’t the same as stiffness; a material can be strong yet not very stiff, or stiff but not very strong.