Tungsten rings are brittle, easily able to be broken, but for a good reason. Triton tungsten is a very hard material and, as such, is often advertised as being indestructible and unable to be marked up to a high degree. However, that's what makes a men's tungsten wedding band so easily able to be broken. If you were to do a little bit of research on the subject of tungsten and its brittle nature, you'll see that it's tungsten's greatest quality is its ultimate downfall.
Tungsten rings are supposedly made up of the World's hardest metal and you may actually have a case. However, the case is soon moot when you realize that a men's tungsten wedding band can be easily broken with a strike from a hammer. All it takes is one quick strike and Triton tungsten falls apart as if it were a house built on unstable ground. There are a few videos on YouTube that illustrate the point and you can watch them rather easily. But why are they so brittle?
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was created in order to determine the scratch resistance and overall dexterity of metals. The higher a metal's rating, the stronger that it will be. Lithium and sodium, to name two examples, rate very low at 0.5 to 0.6 on the scale. If were to look up tungsten carbide, however, you will see that it's substantially high on the scale at 9.0 to 9.5, diamond beating it out at a perfect 10. Like diamond, however, tungsten carbide is prone to breakage.
Let's picture the scene of a child having a hammer in their grasp and a tungsten ring is lying in front of them, totally defenseless. It might be common to believe that the metal hardness of a substance can be drawn to that metal's strength on the whole. This is far from the truth, since a hammer coming down on the ring with force can make the band break easily. Diamond would be a more severe case since it would just become dust. One would be able to make the connection from this case to the cliche of "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The Mohs scale was a great finding that originated in 1812 but it isn't very beneficial when finding out the strength of a tungsten ring. The hardness of a material can actually be counterproductive, since the right amount of force can make the ring break with ease. It's tough to believe that sodium or lithium can actually survive an attack better than tungsten or diamond could only hope. This is simply another factor as to why tungsten doesn't work.
Tungsten rings are supposedly made up of the World's hardest metal and you may actually have a case. However, the case is soon moot when you realize that a men's tungsten wedding band can be easily broken with a strike from a hammer. All it takes is one quick strike and Triton tungsten falls apart as if it were a house built on unstable ground. There are a few videos on YouTube that illustrate the point and you can watch them rather easily. But why are they so brittle?
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was created in order to determine the scratch resistance and overall dexterity of metals. The higher a metal's rating, the stronger that it will be. Lithium and sodium, to name two examples, rate very low at 0.5 to 0.6 on the scale. If were to look up tungsten carbide, however, you will see that it's substantially high on the scale at 9.0 to 9.5, diamond beating it out at a perfect 10. Like diamond, however, tungsten carbide is prone to breakage.
Let's picture the scene of a child having a hammer in their grasp and a tungsten ring is lying in front of them, totally defenseless. It might be common to believe that the metal hardness of a substance can be drawn to that metal's strength on the whole. This is far from the truth, since a hammer coming down on the ring with force can make the band break easily. Diamond would be a more severe case since it would just become dust. One would be able to make the connection from this case to the cliche of "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The Mohs scale was a great finding that originated in 1812 but it isn't very beneficial when finding out the strength of a tungsten ring. The hardness of a material can actually be counterproductive, since the right amount of force can make the ring break with ease. It's tough to believe that sodium or lithium can actually survive an attack better than tungsten or diamond could only hope. This is simply another factor as to why tungsten doesn't work.
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