Which property describes the ability of a material to resist pulling stresses?

Tensile strength is the property that measures how much pulling (or tensile) stress a material can withstand before failing or breaking. This property is crucial for materials used in applications where they will be subjected to stretching forces, such as cables, beams, and structural components.

Tensile strength reflects the maximum amount of tensile stress that a material can handle while being subjected to these forces. A high tensile strength indicates that a material can endure significant tension without succumbing to structural failure.

In contrast, compression strength relates to a material's ability to resist forces that compress or squeeze it together; flexural strength measures its ability to resist bending; and yield strength indicates the point where a material begins to deform plastically. Therefore, tensile strength is specifically relevant when talking about a material's resistance to pulling stresses.