Question

Which of the following statements is correct?
A. All metals are ductile.
B. All non-metals are ductile.
C. Generally, metals are ductile.
D. Some non-metals are ductile.

Answer 1

Hint: You should know that ductility is the tendency of a substance to being hammered out to thin, and being drawn out into wire or threads. The substances which are ductile, are usually able to undergo changes of form without breaking themselves. So, find out whether metal and non-metals are ductile.

Complete step by step answer:
Let us know about what ductility means and whether metals and nonmetals are ductile or not.
So, ductility can be defined as the property of a substance or an object which describes the ability of a material to stretch into thin threads when tensile stress is applied on it. The materials which are strong and solid and do not break on hammering are common types of ductile material and we can say that material is ductile.
Every substance present around us can be categorized into metals and non-metals. We know that metals occur in the solid state except with an exception for the mercury element, which occurs in the liquid state in its natural form. Whereas, the nonmetals are brittle and easily break into pieces when beaten. Thus, we can conclude from this that non-metals are not at all ductile and thus cannot be made into wires.
While, majority of metals are ductile in nature, except mercury which is a metal and is liquid at room temperature. So, we can say that generally metals are ductile in nature.
So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note: Possible mistake could be you can be confused with option A. In addition to mercury, zinc which is also a metal is brittle in nature and thus it is not ductile and malleable in nature. Also, sodium and potassium are difficult to deform into wires. Thus, we cannot say all metals are ductile and malleable in nature. Try to remember those exceptions.