Making Metals Strong Experiment

The Materials Science and Technology Teacher's Workshop (MAST) provides this experiment on "the effect of cold-working (strain-hardening) and annealing on the ability of wires of the same metal to support a load." Students will gain hands-on experience with cold-working and annealing and get to observe the effects on metal. The lesson includes a step by step explanation of the laboratory procedure, discussion questions and teacher notes. The exercise should take about two and a half class sessions to complete in full; the activity is split into three sections.