Material Choices Flashcards
What makes a material suitable for a job?
The properties that it has
Name some properties that might be important for the job a material is being used for.
Melting point, tensile strength, compressive strength, stiffness, hardness, density
What is the melting point of a material?
The temperature at which it turns into a liquid.
What is tensile strength?
The force needed to break a material when it is being stretched
What is compressive strength?
The force needed to crush a material
What is stiffness?
The force needed to bend a material
What is hardness?
How well a material stands up to wear
What is density?
The mass of a given volume of the material, so it is a measure of how heavy the material is.
How can you influence the properties of a given material?
Changing the size and shape can have an impact, eg glass can be spun into glass fibres.
How are ropes made?
By winding fibres together, the more fibres the stronger the rope.
What does crude oil consist of?
It is a mixture of thousands of hydrocarbons, with chains up to 100 carbon atoms long.
What are hydrocarbons mainly used for?
Fuel
How does the number of each type of atom change during a chemical reaction.
It doesn’t.
Is the composition of crude oil constant?
No.
How are the various fractions of crude oil separated?
Fractional distillation.
What is the relationship between boiling point, and length of carbon chain, in hydrocarbons?
The longer the carbon chain the more energy is required to break out of the liquid, so the boiling point is higher.
How would you make a polymer?
You join many smaller molecules called monomers
How many carbons in a polymer?
From hundreds to millions.
What is the process for making a polymer?
Polymerisation.
Name a monomer and the polymer made from it.
Ethene make polyethene.