Ductility vs. Malleability

Ductility and malleability are properties of metals that show specific characteristics. It is the ductility and malleability property that helps the metals to deform.

Ductility is said to be the property of a material to stretch without getting damaged. Metals having ductile property can be stretched into wires. An example is copper wire.

Malleability is said to be the property of a material to deform under compression. The metals having malleable property can be rolled or beaten into sheets. An example is aluminum foil.

In more simple words, ductility means stretching to wires and malleability means beating to sheets,
Ductility means that a metal can be changed to another form by pulling, compression or twisting. On the other hand, Malleability means that a metal can be changed into another form by beating or hitting it hard.



Ductility also refers to the ability of a metal to change its form under tensile stress. Malleability refers to the ability of a metal to change its form under compressive stress.

A metal’s ductility is measured by looking at its tensile strength. The tensile strength inspects how far a metal could stretch without breaking. A metal’s malleability is measured by looking at how much pressure it can withstand without breaking.

The bend test is the commonly used test for determining the ductility of a metal.

Gold and silver are the top ranking ductile and malleable metals.

The two properties of Malleability and ductility do not always correlate in metals. For example, gold is both malleable and ductile and lead is only malleable.

Summary

1. Ductility and malleability properties help the metals to deform.
2. Ductility can be said to be the property of a material to stretch without getting damaged. Malleability can
    be said to be the property of a material to deform under compression.
3. Ductility also refers to the ability of a metal to change its form under tensile stress. Malleability refers to the
    ability of a metal to change its form under compressive stress.
4. A metal’s ductility is measured by looking at its tensile strength. The bend test is the commonly used test
    for determining the ductility of a metal.
5. A metal’s malleability is measured by looking at how much pressure it can withstand without breaking.
6. Metals having ductile property can be stretched into wires. The metals having malleable property can be
   rolled or beaten into sheets.

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