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Stress - Stress is a condition where a system, or its parts, begins to operate near the limits for which it was designed. Pull a coiled spring outward and when you release it, it moves back to its original state. Pull the spring until the metal fatigues and when you release it, it will not return to its original position. First is stress, the second was strain. Widths of growth increments decrease when trees are stressed. When trees are stressed, only earlywood may form. Strain is a) Disorder and disruption of a system due to operation beyond the limits of stress. b) When the strain is physiological, we have a disease. c) When the strain is structural, we have a fracture.