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Some materials are hard but easy to break. Some, however, are soft but difficult to break. Discuss from a physical science point of view. In our daily lives, the words ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ are used to describe objects. A ‘hard’ object like a stone is extremely difficult (or impossible) to break by human strength. Beancurd, on the other hand, is ‘soft’ and easily breakable. There are objects, however, that are hard but easy to break, such as glass and ice, while some are soft but difficult to break such as nylon string and plastic bottles. Why is that so? The concept of ‘toughness’ To help us understand the mentioned phenomenon, we need to know the meaning of “toughness”. When we say that a material is hard or soft, we are actually referring to the hardness: a measure of how much force is required to deform the material. It is different fro