Final answer:
The material that can bend without fracturing and maintain its strength due to the sliding of atoms past each other is metal.
Step-by-step explanation:
The material that can bend without fracturing and maintain its strength due to the sliding of atoms past each other is metal.
In metals, the atoms are arranged in a lattice structure, and the outermost electrons are free to move around. When a force is applied to a metal, the free-flowing electrons can slip in between the stationary atoms and prevent them from coming in contact, allowing the metal to deform instead of fracture.
For example, think of ball bearings that have been coated with oil sliding past each other. This property makes metals very malleable and ductile, enabling them to be hammered into shapes, rolled into thin sheets, or pulled into thin wires.