The Hardest Tool Material Revealed!

Which tool material is the hardest among Carbide, High-Speed Steel, and Low Carbon Steel?

Rank the following tool materials according to hardness (1 is hardest, 3 is softest) A) 1. Carbide, 2. High-Speed Steel, 3. Low Carbon Steel

Answer:

Carbide is the hardest, followed by high-speed steel, and low-carbon steel is the softest among the materials mentioned for tools.

The question requires ranking tool materials according to their hardness. Hardness is indicative of a material's resistance to deformation and is a critical property in determining suitability for various applications such as cutting tools, where a hard material is necessary to cut through other substances.

The correct ranking, with 1 being the hardest and 3 being the softest, of the given tool materials is:

Tungsten carbide (WC) is known for its extreme hardness and is often used in industrial high-speed cutting tools. High-speed steels are alloys that are designed to withstand high temperatures without losing their hardness and thus follow carbide in hardness scale. Lastly, low-carbon steel is softer than both carbide and high-speed steel and has a variety of uses, including in structures where malleability is more important than hardness.