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Post something Weird or Random

Orange Glasses said:
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A paperclip breaks when you bend it back and forth repeatedly because it is made of a metal that has a crystal structure. That is, all the little parts inside the metal repeat a pattern exactly in how they connect to the parts next to them. If you put a load on a paperclip, like bending it, you are putting energy into it (in the form of heat). That energy travels most along the boundaries of the crystal structures.

So why does if break if you bend it? When you bend it back and forth, back and forth you start moving the crystal structures until they no longer line up, it is called confusion. This makes the metal harder, it is called work-hardening. The metal becomes so hard that the energy you put into it does not disperse but continues to harden a smaller and smaller area until the structure is so confused, it can no longer bend and breaks.

By the way, you can reverse this process by heating the paperclip to glowing hot and letting it cool slowly at room temperature. This is called annealing. The paperclip will be soft now but so soft, it will no longer spring and work as a paperclip though it looks the same.
 
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