History of Electrum. This gold-silver alloy has a long history of being used by humans. It was used for different purposes since third millennium BC. However, the variation in the gold and silver contents of this alloy made it difficult to decide the value of each coin.
To measure a material's ductility, the tester typically takes a measurement of the material's tensile strength. Tensile strength examines how far the material can stretch without breaking. This ability is similar to malleability, though they each have a slight difference. Instead of measuring tensile strength, or essentially how far the metal can stretch, malleability measures how much pressure a material can take without breaking or cracking.
For example, a tensile strength of a steel that can withstand 40,000 pounds of force per square inch may be expressed as 40,000 PSI or 40 KSI (with K being the denominator for thousands of pounds). The tensile strength of steel may also be shown in MPa, or megapascal.he tensile strength of an alloy is most commonly measured by placing a test piece in the jaws of a tensile machine. The tensile machine applies stretching stress by gradually separating the jaws.