Stress is defined as the reaction within the material that can cause distortion.

Stress is defined as the reaction within the material that can cause distortion.

• A. A reaction within the material that can cause distortion.
• B. The change produced within the material that occurs as the result of stress.
• C. Pushes the material together.
• D. Pulls and stretches the material.

Answer: (A)

Stress is the internal reaction within a material to an external load. It’s the internal forces that develop inside the material to resist being loaded, and these internal forces can cause the material to distort or deform. The term for the actual change in shape or size that results from stress is strain, not stress itself. So the statement that describes stress as an internal reaction that can cause distortion matches the idea of stress, while the change produced by that stress is what we call strain. The other descriptions focus on the external action (pushing together or pulling/stretching) or on the result (distortion) rather than the internal resisting forces that define stress.

Stress is the internal reaction within a material to an external load. It’s the internal forces that develop inside the material to resist being loaded, and these internal forces can cause the material to distort or deform. The term for the actual change in shape or size that results from stress is strain, not stress itself. So the statement that describes stress as an internal reaction that can cause distortion matches the idea of stress, while the change produced by that stress is what we call strain. The other descriptions focus on the external action (pushing together or pulling/stretching) or on the result (distortion) rather than the internal resisting forces that define stress.