Fire Department Incident Safety Officer Practice Test

What is the term for a force that causes a material to be stretched?

1. Compression

2. Tension

3. Shear

4. Load

The correct answer is: Tension

The term that describes a force causing a material to be stretched is "tension." Tension refers to the pulling or stretching force that acts along the length of a material, like a rope or a cable, resulting in elongation. This phenomenon is critical in various fields such as engineering and materials science, where understanding how materials behave under different forces is essential for safety and structural integrity. On the other hand, compression refers to forces applied that compact a material, causing it to shorten or collapse. Shear involves forces that cause parts of a material to slide past one another, usually in different directions, rather than stretching or compressing it. Load is a more general term that encompasses any force applied to a structure or material, but it does not specify the nature of that force, whether it be tension, compression, or shear. Thus, tension is the precise term to describe the force responsible for stretching a material.