C6.1 - Materials Flashcards
Ceramics
Hard, non-metallic materials
Eg. Brick, china, porcelain, glass
Structure of ceramics
Contain metals & non-metals
Combined to form giant ionic lattices / giant covalent structures
Typical properties of ceramics due to their structure
- high melting point
- hard & stiff, but brittle
- poor conducts of electricity / heat
- unreactive (compounds are mostly oxides)
How is glass made?
What is its structure?
Melting sand
Allowing it to cool & solidify
= irregular giant structure without crystals, usually transparent
How are other ceramics (not glass) made
Heating clay to very high temps
Tiny crystals form, joined together by glass
Why is china & porcelain coated in a glaze & reheated
To form a - smooth - hard - waterproof Surface
Why is aluminium a good material (metal) for overhead electricity cables
- good conductor of electricity
- strong enough (doesn’t stretch / snap easily)
- not too dense (lightweight)
- corrosion resistant
Compressive strength
Measure of how strong a material is when squashed
Low = squash easily
Tensile strength
Measure of how strong a material is when stretched
Low = snap easily when stretched
Why is porcelain a good material for insulators where cables are fixed on top of a structure (to stop current passing from cable to pylon)
- high compressive strength
- high electrical resistance (poor conductor of electricity)
- but low tensile strength
why would poly(propene) not be good for cable insulators
- low tensile strength
- low compressive strength
- but poor conductor of electricity
Composite material
Material made from 2 or more different materials, with different properties to those of the materials
List composite materials
- polyester-cotton
- fibreglass
- carbon fibre
- concrete
- steel-reinforced concrete
- plywood
How is polyester-cotton made
Weaving cotton thread with polyester fibre (artificial polymer)
What properties does polyester-cotton have that make it good for clothes?
(Different from properties of polyester & cotton)
- comfortable
- hard-wearing
- easy to wash & dry