Ductility vs. Malleability
Main DifferenceThe main difference between Ductility and Malleability is that Ductility is the capability of a metal that can undertake tensile stress, whereas Malleability is the capacity of a metal to go through compressive stress.

Difference Between Ductility and Malleability
Ductility vs. Malleability
Ductility is known as the capability of a metal to stretch in tensile stress, while malleability is known as the ability to alter the shape in compressive stress.
Ductility vs. Malleability
The tensile stress is the external force that is applying on ductility, while the compressive force/stress is the external force that is applying on the malleability.
Ductility vs. Malleability
Materials having ductile property could be rolled into wires, whereas materials that contain malleable property could be rolled into actions like sheets and papers, forging, extrusion, etc.
Ductility vs. Malleability
A bend experiment is used for determining the ductility of a substance; on the other hand, malleability is usually determined by the ability to survive from pressure and force.
Ductility vs. Malleability
The characteristics of a ductile metal could be affected by a grain size; on the contrary, a substance having crystal structure could affect the malleability.
Ductility vs. Malleability
With the increase in temperature, the ductility of a compact substance usually decreases; conversely, with the increase in temperature, the malleability of a hard substance used to increase.
Ductility vs. Malleability
Metals and substances that show ductile characteristics have high malleabilities such as silver and gold; on the other hand, substances and other materials that display high malleability may not show good ductility such as lead.
Ductility vs. Malleability
The concept of ductility defines that the ability of a material to expanse into a wire or a chain when it is dragged from the ends; on the other hand, the concept of malleability comments that the ability of a metal to form a change in sheet structure when a compressed force acts on all the ends.
Ductility vs. Malleability
The point in ductility be effective, in which the solid material could go thorough plastic alteration without having a breakage; on the contrary, in malleability, it firms the volume of pressure through which a solid material could survive without breaking.
Ductilitynoun
(physics) Ability of a material to be drawn out longitudinally to a reduced section without fracture under the action of a tensile force.
Malleabilitynoun
The quality or state of being malleable.
Ductilitynoun
the malleability of something that can be drawing into wires or hammered into thin sheets
Malleabilitynoun
The property by virtue of which a material can be extended in all directions without rupture by the application of load; a material's ability to be bent, formed, or shaped without cracking or breaking.
Malleabilitynoun
(cryptography) a property of a cryptographic algorithms in which an adversary can alter a ciphertext such that it decrypts to a related plaintext
Malleabilitynoun
the property of being physically malleable; the property of something that can be worked or hammered or shaped under pressure without breaking
Comparison Chart
Ductility | Malleability |
The plastic distortion in tensile stress is considered by a property known as ductility. | The plastic distortion, when occurring in compressive stress, is known as malleability. |
Capability | |
The capacity of a metal to become an expanse | The capability to distort and can change shape |
External Force | |
The tensile stress. | The compressive force/stress. |
Change in Shape | |
Could be rolled and trolled into wires. | It could be rolled into sheets and papers, forging, extrusion, etc. |
Measurement | |
A bend test is used to measure. | It is measured by the capability to withstand pressure and force. |
Factors that Affects | |
A grain size could affect the properties. | Could be affected by a substance having a crystal structure. |
Change Due to Increase in Temperature | |
Usually decreases with the increase in temperature | Used to increase with the increase in temperature |
Variation Accordance to Each Other | |
Metals that display ductile property normally show high malleabilities such as silver and gold. | Materials that show high malleability may not exhibit good ductility, such as lead. |
Theory | |
The capability of a material to stretch into a wire or a chain when it is pulled from all ends. | The capacity of a metal to produce a sheet-like structure when a compressed force acts on all the ends. |
Determination | |
By influential the degree in ductility in which the solid material could go thorough plastic distortion without having a fracture. | Determined the amount of pressure a solid material could withstand without breaking. |
Ductility vs. Malleability
Ductility mentions the capacity of a metal to expanse in tensile stress, while malleability mentions the capability of a substance to distort and can change shape in compressive stress. The external force which is applying on ductility is the tensile stress, while the external force which is applying on the malleability is the compressive force/stress.
Materials that have ductile property could be rolled and trolled into wires, and it is the critical property of a ductile because the tensile force is acting on the substance, whereas materials that contain malleable property could be rolled into sheets and papers, forging, extrusion, etc. actions because a compressive force is acting on that substance.
For measuring the ductility of a substance, a bend test is used; on the other hand, malleability is generally measured by the capability to withstand pressure and force. A grain size could affect the properties of ductile metal; on the contrary, malleability could be affected by a substance having a crystal structure. The ductility of a solid substance usually decreases with the increase in temperature; conversely, the malleability of a solid substance used to increase with the increase in temperature.
Metals and substances that display ductile property normally show high malleability such as silver and gold because both of them show excellent properties of ductility and malleability; on the other hand, substances and other materials which show high malleability may not exhibit good ductility such as lead and cast iron which shows high malleable property but poor ductile property.
The theory of ductility describes that the capability of a material to stretch into a wire or a chain when it is pulled from all ends; on the other hand, the theory of malleability mentions that the capacity of a metal to produce a sheet-like structure and change its structure when a compressed force acts on all the ends. By influential the degree in ductility in which the solid material could go thorough plastic distortion without having a fracture or change in shape; on the contrary, in malleability, it is determined the amount of pressure a solid material could withstand without breaking.
What is Ductility?
Ductility refers to the amount of the capacity of a solid material to distort plastically in external tensile force. Tensile stress defines as the force that is applied at both ends of a solid material to pull away from each other when a stress is applied to that material. Plastic distortion in ductility is happened because of tensile stress.
When a tensile stress is applied lengthwise to a single axis, then the material will be rolled into a wire or could be changed into chains without having a fracture. A grain size could affect the properties of ductile metal because when smaller the grain size, then because of greater resistance, the harder the motion of dislocations. Therefore, the ductile property of a material decreases, but with larger grain sizes, the property of ductile material increases because of lower resistance.
Ductility is obliged to the capability of metal atoms when they slip over each other and distort in stress. This property also proportional to the change in temperature because when metal is heated and change in temperature occurs, then ductility increases. Though, lead shows an exclusion behavior when more heated and becomes more brittle.
Metals and substances that display ductile property normally show high malleability, such as silver and gold, because both of them show excellent properties of ductility and malleability. Ductility is implicit by the tensile stress of a material in which greater the tensile stress, advanced the ductility, and easier to expanse the material.
For measuring the ductility of a substance, a bend test is used. This test is done by twisting the sample to a determined position until it fractures. The structures of Alloys are not pure, so that’s why they are highly ductile materials. Some materials like carbon are considered as less ductile because steel can be made more ductile by increasing the composition of carbon.
Applications of Ductility
- Used to produce wires
- Tubes
- Various other vehicle parts
Examples of Ductility
- Copper: It displays high ductile properties.
- Bismuth: It expresses relatively low ductility and tends to break easily due to tensile stress.
What is Malleability?
Malleability refers to the degree of the capability of a solid material to bend plastically in external compressive stress. Compressive stress is the ability of stress to shorten the proportions of material by constructing its volume smaller. Metals are considered as highly malleable such as the sea of electrons that are nearby the positive metal ions, and to survive with their small volume, they can regulate themselves.
A material having malleable property could be pressed, rolled into thin sheets and papers, forging, extrusion, and hammered without breaking the malleable material. Many different materials display different malleability according to the arrangements of a crystal structure in them.
Malleability could be affected by a substance having a crystal structure. For instance, NaCl consist of an ionic framework that usually requires negative and positive ions to be positioned in a particular area so, when pressure or force is applied, the ions are not capable of displacing and the framework of a crystal becomes broken. Therefore, sodium chloride (NaCl) is not considered as malleable material. In comparison, Cu is considered a highly malleable material because it can adjust its crystal structure when force or pressure is applied.
Applications of malleability are that it is widely used to make many objects by making modifications in their shapes and structures. Various examples of malleability are Gold, Silver, Iron, Copper, Aluminum, Tin, Lithium, etc.
ConclusionThe above discussion concludes that the ductility is the capacity of a metal to expanse in tensile stress and usually decreases with the increase in temperature, while malleability is the capability to change shape in compressive stress and increase with the increase in temperature.