The engineering world is full of technical terms, and it is easy to forget which term applies to which property of a material. The tensile strength of a material is how far it can be stretched without breaking. An upward and downward force is applied until the material snaps. Tensile strength is important for the suspension of bridges as well as anything that holds up an object against gravity.
A tensile testing machine replicates gravity by securing two ends of a test sample and then applying an upward force to simulate a very heavy load. A common material to test is whole or woven steel, although everything from rope to plastic string can be tested this way. Because the stress can be precisely controlled in a lab, it is possible to examine precisely how the structure of a sample breaks apart. The more accurate the machine, the more precisely a company can certify the material.
