How many times stronger is steel than concrete?

• A. Five times.
• B. Fifteen times.
• C. Three times.
• D. Ten times.

Answer: (B)

Strength here depends on the type of load and how each material behaves. Concrete resists compression very well but is weak in tension and brittle, while steel has very high tensile strength and ductility. When people say how much stronger steel is than concrete, a common practical comparison uses steel’s tensile strength (or yield strength) versus concrete’s compressive strength. With typical grades, concrete might have a compressive strength around 25–40 MPa, and steel in tension around 250–500 MPa. That puts the ballpark at roughly 10–15 times stronger for steel in those comparative terms, and 15 times is a reasonable rounded figure. Keep in mind exact ratios vary with material grades and which strength measure you use, but the general idea is that steel offers several times to an order of magnitude more strength in tension than concrete offers in compression.