Ceramics, Polymers, Composites & Metals Flashcards
All 5 cards in this deck
What is a composite material?
A material made of two or more different materials combined, one reinforcing the other.
e.g. concrete = cement, sand and stone
What are the typical physical properties of glass and clay ceramics?
Hard, stiff and brittle, with high melting points; insulators of heat and electricity; inert (do not corrode or react with water/acids).
What are the typical physical properties of polymers?
Flexible, low density, electrical and thermal insulators, with lower melting points than ceramics and metals; waterproof and generally unreactive.
True or false? Ceramics such as glass are highly flexible and bend easily without breaking.
False. Ceramics have low flexibility — they are brittle and shatter or crack instead of bending.
What are the steps to use a table of property data to choose the best material for a use?
e.g. choosing a material for a container to hold an acid
- Decide which properties the use needs: inert / does not corrode
- Compare the data for each material against those properties
- Pick the best match and justify it: glass, because it is unreactive and does not corrode