P2 - Using Resources Flashcards
What are ceramics ?
Non-metal solids with high melting points not made from carbon base compounds.
What is clay ?
Soft material when dug from ground so can be moulded into different shapes, and fired in high temperatures to harden and form clay ceramic - used to make pottery and bricks.
What is glass ?
A ceramic - generally transparent and can be moulded when hot and brittle when thin.
What different types of glass are there ?
Soda-lime glass, and borosilicate glass.
How is soda-lime glass made ?
Heating a mixture of limestone, sand and sodium carbonate until it melts, becoming glass when it cools.
How is borosilicate glass made ?
Heating a mixture of sand and boron trioxide, has a higher melting point than soda-lime glass.
What are composites ?
Where one material is embedded in another - fibres or fragments of a material (the reinforcement) are surrounding by a matrix acting as a binder.
What are some examples of composites ?
Fibreglass - glass embedded in matrix of polymer, carbon fibre - reinforcement of long chains of carbon atoms bonded together or carbon nanotubes and matrix of polymer, concrete - aggregate embedded in matrix of cement, and wood - natural composite of embedded cellulose fibres in organic polymer matrix.
What is an aggregate ?
Any material made from fragments.
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