strength

1. The quality of being strong or powerful. 2. The degree of intensity. 3. The property of materials by which they endure the application of force without yielding or breaking.

- associative s. in psychology, the s. of a stimulus response linkage as measured by the frequency with which a stimulus elicits a particular response. See conditioning.

- biting s. SYN: force of mastication.

- compressive s. tensile s., except that the stress is in compression.

- fatigue s. the stress level below which a particular component will survive an indefinite number of load cycles (typically about 50% of the ultimate s. of the component).

- ionic s. (I) symbolized as Γ/2 or I and set equal to 0.5Σm_iz_i², where m_i equals the molar concentration and z_i the charge of each ion present in solution; if molar concentrations (c_i) are used instead of molality (and the solution is dilute), then I = 0.5(1/ρ_o)Σc_iz_i² where ρ_o is the density of the solvent; a number of biochemically important events ( e.g., protein solubility and rates of enzyme action) vary with the ionic s. of a solution.

- tensile s. the maximum tensile stress or load that a material is capable of sustaining; usually expressed in pounds per square inch.

- ultimate s. the maximum stress achieved prior to failure of a component on a single application of the load.

- yield s. the amount of stress at which a permanent (plastic) deformation in a component becomes measurable (usually taken as 0.2% permanent strain).

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strength 'streŋ(k)th, 'stren(t)th n, pl strengths 'streŋ(k)ths, 'stren(t)ths, 'streŋks

1) the quality or state of being strong: capacity for exertion or endurance

2) degree of potency of effect or of concentration

3) degree of ionization of a solution used of acids and bases

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(strength) intensity or power.