Have you ever unbent a paper clip and tried to get all of the little kinks out? It doesn't work. This has irked me for ages.
So I know you are DYING to find out why.....
I learned today in a materials science lab that when a metal is deformed, (flattening, folding, bending, hammering, steam roller-ing, jack hammer-ing, anvil smashing, sumo wrestling, karate chopping, alien laser beaming, neutron star colliding. You know, every day things.) the metal actually becomes stronger.
Yes, stronger. {Bear with me, this is a little counterintuitive.}
So when you unbend your paper clip and try with all of the strength in your human hands to straighten out those annoying curves and zizags, you are actually making it harder on yourself. Recall that "bending" falls under the category of metal deformation- thus hardening the material.
Now, things in this world are never free...
You always must pay a price. Same with this metal-deformation-hardening technique. (FYI: The engineering term is "cold work") So when you harden the material you give up ductility, or the flexible nature of the metal. It snaps easier. That is why the paper clip breaks if you bend it back and forth too many times.
Interesting, eh?
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