Aplate of the steel hull of a ship develops a large crack when the ship strikes a reef. analysis of the steel’s composition shows higher-than-normal levels of an element that could explain why the plate cracked instead of bending. which element is most likely suspected?
iron
sulfur
chromium
nickel

sulfur

Explanation:

Sulfur is a non-metallic element that is located in family 16, also known as the calcogen family. Its name derives from the Latin “sulfur” and because of that its symbol is S.

Sulfur is found in nature in free form or in compounds such as sulfates and sulfides. It is commonly found in volcanic regions, and is a low hardness metal, which causes it to crack and not to bend when impacted.

For this reason we can say that in the case of the above question the cracked plate was made of sulfur.