what changes in the structure of an object that allows something to permanently bend (i.e folding paper)

Question

what changes in the structure of an object that allows something to permanently bend (i.e folding paper)

In: Physics

Answer 1

I want you to imagine playing with a set of [small magnetic spheres](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/g5oAAOSw9ZtcpKO4/s-l640.jpg).

If you have a nicely arranged sheet of them and try to bend them, they sometimes can snap to a different ordered position. That is bending or folding them.

Now, this kind of bonding is more similar to how metals bond, rather than solids in general. So this only really gives you a decent idea of how bending metal works at the microscopic level.

Non-metals (such as paper) work a bit differently, but still in a *kinda* similar way.

Now, note that molecular bonding works with electric forces, rather than magnetic forces, so the way the individual molecules behave is different to how the individual magnets behave. However in terms of the big picture, some of the same kind of order can be seen when you look at the whole collection of molecules/atoms, vs the whole collection of magnets.