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StyleofmaterialsMaterialsmaybegroupedinseveralways.Scientistsoftenclassifymaterialsbytheirstate:solid,liquid,orgas.Theyalsoseparatethemintoorganic(onceliving)andinorganic(neverliving)materials.Forindustrialpurposes,materialsaredividedintoengineeringmaterialsornonengineeringmaterials.Engineeringmaterialsarethoseusedinmanufactureandbecomepartsofproducts.Nonengineeringmaterialsarethechemicals,fuels,lubricants,andothermaterialsusedinthemanufacturingprocess,whichdonotbecomepartoftheproduct.Engineeringmaterialsmaybefurthersubdividedinto:①Metal②Ceramics③Composite④Polymers,etc.MetalsandMetalAlloysMetalsareelementsthatgenerallyhavegoodelectricalandthermalconductivity.Manymetalshavehighstrength,highstiffness,andhavegoodductility.Somemetals,suchasiron,cobaltandnickel,aremagnetic.Atlowtemperatures,somemetalsandintermetalliccompoundsbecomesuperconductors.Whatisthedifferencebetweenanalloyandapuremetal?Puremetalsareelementswhichcomefromaparticularareaoftheperiodictable.Examplesofpuremetalsincludecopperinelectricalwiresandaluminumincookingfoilandbeveragecans.Alloyscontainmorethanonemetallicelement.Theirpropertiescanbechangedbychangingtheelementspresentinthealloy.Examplesofmetalalloysincludestainlesssteelwhichisanalloyofiron,nickel,andchromium;andgoldjewelrywhichusuallycontainsanalloyofgoldandnickel.Whyaremetalsandalloysused?Manymetalsandalloyshavehighdensitiesandareusedinapplicationswhichrequireahighmass-to-volumeratio.Somemetalalloys,suchasthosebasedonaluminum,havelowdensitiesandareusedinaerospaceapplicationsforfueleconomy.Manyalloysalsohavehighfracturetoughness,whichmeanstheycanwithstandimpactandaredurable.Whataresomeimportantpropertiesofmetals?Densityisdefinedasamaterial’smassdividedbyitsvolume.Mostmetalshaverelativelyhighdensities,especiallycomparedtopolymers.Materialswithhighdensitiesoftencontainatomswithhighatomicnumbers,suchasgoldorlead.However,somemetalssuchasaluminumormagnesiumhavelowdensities,andareusedinapplicationsthatrequireothermetallicpropertiesbutalsorequirelowweight.Fracturetoughnesscanbedescribedasamaterial’sabilitytoavoidfracture,especiallywhenaflawisintroduced.Metalscangenerallycontainnicksanddentswithoutweakeningverymuch,andareimpactresistant.Afootballplayercountsonthiswhenhetruststhathisfacemaskwon’tshatter.Plasticdeformationistheabilityofbendordeformbeforebreaking.Asengineers,weusuallydesignmaterialssothattheydon’tdeformundernormalconditions.Youdon’twantyourcartoleantotheeastafterastrongwestwind.However,sometimeswecantakeadvantageofplasticdeformation.Thecrumplezonesinacarabsorbenergybyundergoingplasticdeformationbeforetheybreak.Theatomicbondingofmetalsalsoaffectstheirproperties.Inmetals,theoutervalenceelectronsaresharedamongallatoms,andarefreetotraveleverywhere.Sinceelectronsconductheatandelectricity,metalsmakegoodcookingpansandelectricalwires.Itisimpossibletoseethroughmetals,sincethesevalenceelectronsabsorbanyphotonsoflightwhichreachthemetal.Nophotonspassthrough.Alloysarecompoundsconsistingofmorethanonemetal.Addingothermetalscanaffectthedensity,strength,fracturetoughness,plasticdeformation,electricalconductivityandenvironmentaldegradation.Forexample,addingasmallamountofirontoaluminumwillmakeitstronger.Also,addingsomechromiumtosteelwillslowtherustingprocess,butwillmakeitmorebrittle.CeramicsandGlassesAceramicisoftenbroadlydefinedasanyinorganicnonmetallicmaterial．Bythisdefinition,ceramicmaterialswouldalsoincludeglasses;however,manymaterialsscientistsaddthestipulationthat“ceramic”mustalsobecrystalline.Aglassisaninorganicnonmetallicmaterialthatdoesnothaveacrystallinestructure.Suchmaterialsaresaidtobeamorphous.PropertiesofCeramicsandGlassesSomeoftheusefulpropertiesofceramicsandglassesincludehighmeltingtemperature,lowdensity,highstrength,stiffness,hardness,wearresistance,andcorrosionresistance.Manyceramicsaregoodelectricalandthermalinsulators.Someceramicshavespecialproperties:someceramicsaremagneticmaterials;somearepiezoelectricmaterials;andafewspecialceramicsaresuperconductorsatverylowtemperatures.Ceramicsandglasseshaveonemajordrawback:theyarebrittle.Ceramicsarenottypicallyformedfromthemelt.Thisisbecausemostceramicswillcrackextensively(i.e.formapowder)uponcoolingfromtheliquidstate.Hence,allthesimpleandefficientmanufacturingtechniquesusedforglassproductionsuchascastingandblowing,whichinvolvethemoltenstate,cannotbeusedfortheproductionofcrystallineceramics.Instead,“sintering”or“firing”istheprocesstypicallyused.Insintering,ceramicpowdersareprocessedintocompactedshapesandthenheatedtotemperaturesjustbelowthemeltingpoint.Atsuchtemperatures,thepowdersreactinternallytoremoveporosityandfullydensearticlescanbeobtained.Anopticalfibercontainsthreelayers:acoremadeofhighlypureglasswithahighrefractiveindexforthelighttotravel,amiddlelayerofglasswithalowerrefractiveindexknownasthecladdingwhichprotectsthecoreglassfromscratchesandothersurfaceimperfections,andanoutpolymerjackettoprotectthefiberfromdamage.Inorderforthecoreglasstohaveahigherrefractiveindexthanthecladding,thecoreglassisdopedwithasmall,controlledamountofanimpurit