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 ceramics and glasses, it. is the compressive crushing strength; remember that this is. roughly 15 times larger than the tensile (fracture) strength. For composites it is the tensile strength. For elastomers it. is the tear-strength. The chart guides selection of. materials for light, strong, components.