Which term describes the ability of a substance to be hammered into thin sheets?

Which term describes the ability of a substance to be hammered into thin sheets?

• A. Ductility
• B. Malleability
• C. Hybridization
• D. Dipole

Answer: (B)

Malleability describes the ability of a substance to be hammered into thin sheets. When a metal is malleable, its crystal lattice can deform plastically under compressive stress, allowing layers to slide past one another without cracking. This is why metals can be flattened into sheets, such as gold leaf. Ductility is about drawing a material into wires, which is a different type of deformation. Hybridization is an orbital concept explaining how atomic orbitals mix to form bonds, and a dipole relates to molecular polarity—neither describes how a material responds to hammering. So the term that fits is malleability.

Malleability describes the ability of a substance to be hammered into thin sheets. When a metal is malleable, its crystal lattice can deform plastically under compressive stress, allowing layers to slide past one another without cracking. This is why metals can be flattened into sheets, such as gold leaf. Ductility is about drawing a material into wires, which is a different type of deformation. Hybridization is an orbital concept explaining how atomic orbitals mix to form bonds, and a dipole relates to molecular polarity—neither describes how a material responds to hammering. So the term that fits is malleability.