this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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I'm much more familiar with those terms being used in the active present tense sense than in a past tense sense. The elastic interval on the strain axis tends to be surprisingly short and plastic deformation can be difficult to detect with the naked eye.
Holding that rubber band and having it stretch due to gravity is almost certainly an elastic deformation. I would be very surprised if there was no plastic deformation from that disposable spoon bending.
A good rule of thumb is: if I cycled this change a bajillion times, would I eventually detect a difference? If you answer yes, then plastic deformation is occurring.