Title: Distinguish between materials.
Course: Materials and Processes Technology (13052-36) > Section: Understanding Materials and Processes Technology Concepts

Distinction should include

- identifying the structure (amorphous or crystalline)
- dividing materials into four classifications, based on the following definitions:
- Metal—any of a category of electropositive elements that usually have a shiny surface, are generally good conductors of heat and electricity, and can be melted or fused, hammered into thin sheets, or drawn into wires. Typical metals form salts with nonmetals, basic oxides with oxygen, and alloys with one another.
- Ceramic—any of various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing a nonmetallic mineral, such as clay, at a high temperature
- Polymer—material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Polymers are generally strong and flexible, enabling such processes as molding and casting. There are both natural and synthetic polymers. Polymers are resistant to corrosion and the passage of electricity.
- Composite—a complex material, such as wood or fiberglass, in which two or more distinct, structurally complementary substances, especially metals, ceramics, glasses, and polymers, combine to produce structural or functional properties not present in any individual component

Process/Skill Questions:

- What characteristics make a material easily identifiable as a metal, ceramic, or plastic?
- What properties are unique to each material classification?
- Where are metals and nonmetals found on the periodic table?
- Why can wood be considered a composite or polymer material?
- What is the stress/strain relationship of each material classification?
- What are some natural polymers?
- What are some composite materials?