Which statement best reflects brittle material characteristics?

• A. A material that will fracture or fail as it is deformed or stressed
• B. A material that will bend, deflect or stretch as a load is applied, yet retain some strength
• C. A material that will melt under heat
• D. A material that will compress under load

Answer: (A)

Brittle behavior means a material fractures with little to no plastic deformation when stressed. It stores very little energy and breaks suddenly once the applied stress reaches its strength. The statement that best reflects this is the one describing a material that will fracture or fail as it is deformed or stressed, because it captures the lack of significant deformation before failure.

The other ideas describe different concepts: bending, deflecting, or stretching with some retained strength points to ductile materials that deform plastically; melting under heat concerns thermal properties rather than brittleness; and simply compressing under load does not specify the abrupt fracture behavior that characterizes brittleness.