Answer:
A. Forces that act perpendicular to the surface and pull an object apart exert a tensile stress on the object.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tensile stress is due to tension forces on a material. Tensile force acts perpendicularly away from the surface of the substance. The pull on the material due to the tensile force exerts tensile stress on the material, that tends to pull the material apart. The magnitude of the tensile stress is given as
σ =
![(P)/(A)](https://img.qammunity.org/2021/formulas/physics/college/ba12ix00gncodh6kw2y3yz7q56mlfhmk74.png)
where σ is the tensile stress
P is the tensile force pulling the material apart
A is the cross-sectional area through which the tensile force acts perpendicularly.