🔍 Key Concepts

• Tension vs. Compression – how materials behave when being pulled apart vs. pushed together • Direction of forces along a line – same line vs. parallel but separate lines • What it means to pull a material apart at the molecular/structural level

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: when you stretch a line, rope, or bar, are the forces trying to squeeze it shorter or pull it longer? • Which option clearly describes a situation where the material is being pulled away from its center, instead of pushed toward it? • Focus on whether the forces act along exactly the same line through the object, or on different but parallel lines.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify which choice describes pulling apart (stretching) rather than squeezing or sliding. • Check that the forces act in directly opposite directions on the same line, not just any opposite directions. • Eliminate any option that clearly describes compression (pushing together) instead of tension.