¶ Chain Stronger Than Its Weakest Link (1)
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Index Entry
Chain Stronger Than Its Weakest Link:
“Speaking of structures, we have in chrome-nickel-steel an example of symmetry in alloys. The chromium per se, the iron per se, about 60,000 p.s.i. tensile strength ultimate; the chromium about 70,000 pounds ultimate; the nickel 80,000 pounds ultimate. People used to say a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. So you see whichever is the weakest one ought to adulterate it. For instance, if you took peanuts and sugar and made sugar candy with nuts in it, whatever dissolves the easiest-- and the whole thing comes apart. The weakest tells you, like the weakest link in the chain. So we ought to say then of chrome-nickel-steel that it couldn’t be any stronger than the 60,000 pounds of the iron. In fact this chrome-nickel-steel is very much stronger. You may say I’m being unreasonable. Maybe this chain is as strong as its strongest link. So that says out of the 80,000 the chrome still has 350,000. Well, maybe I better add up the strength of the chain. So I’m going to have a new kind of law: the chain is as strong as the sum of the strengths of all its links. So I’m going to add 60,000 iron to 70,00 chromium and that gives me 130,000; to which I add 80,000 for the nickel. That comes to 210,000. Then I add in the manganese-- 250,000 total. But chrome-nickel steel is 350,000, or 50 percent stronger than the sum”
