What testing method is used to determine the tensile strength of materials?

The correct method to determine the tensile strength of materials is through tensile tests. This testing specifically measures how much pulling force a material can withstand before it breaks or deforms. Tensile tests provide a direct measurement of a material’s ability to resist tensile (pulling) forces, which is crucial in understanding how materials behave under tension.

While shear tests and compression tests are important for evaluating other properties and behaviors of materials, they do not directly assess tensile strength. Shear tests measure how a material behaves under shear forces, while compression tests evaluate a material's response to compressive forces. Therefore, tensile tests specifically focus on the tensile properties, making them the appropriate choice for determining tensile strength.

The inclusion of the option "All of the above" can lead one to think that all mentioned methods equally assess tensile strength, which is not the case. Each test assesses different mechanical properties, and only the tensile test is used for determining tensile strength directly.