What is the Factor of Safety used to determine?

The Factor of Safety is a crucial concept in engineering design that assesses the reliability and safety of a structure or component. It is defined as the ratio of the maximum load that a material can safely withstand (safe working stress) to the actual load or stress that the material will experience in service. Specifically, the safe working stress is often derived from either the yield strength or the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the material, ensuring that the material operates well within its limits to prevent failure.

Choosing B indicates an understanding that the Factor of Safety helps engineers ensure that structures can handle unexpected loads, material defects, or other uncertainties. By employing a Factor of Safety greater than one, engineers provide a margin of safety in their designs to account for possible overloading or unforeseen circumstances, which decreases the likelihood of catastrophic failures.

In contrast, the other options do not accurately represent the purpose of the Factor of Safety. The ratio of tensile strength to compressive strength, the ratio of load to deformed length, and the proportionate weight of materials address different aspects of material characteristics or structural responses, rather than the capacity for safe operation with an adequate margin to prevent failure.