CHAPTER VIL PROPERTIES OF ENGINEERING MATERIALS, A. NAMES OF MATERIALS/SUBSTANCES AND PROPERTIES, Copper, aluminium, gold, glass, brass, plastic, nicrome are the examples of materials/substances. It is important to know the properties of engineering ‘materials. For example, stel is used for making girders because itis an elastic metal, Cast iron is never used for making girders because it is brittle. The Properties of a materials determine its use. Properties of materials; malleable, ductile, durable, clastic, brittle, corrodible, soft, stiff, tough, hard, ete, a, Malleability: it is easy to roll a malleable into a new shape. A malleable material doesnot = fracture easily under pressure. i Gold is extremely malleable. It is a malleable material possible to roll gold into very thin sheets. Copper is very malleable and so is lead. Glass is not at all Q malleable and nor is east iron. It is BS very easy (0 fracture glass with a easily. . Ductility: it is casy to draw a ductile material. It doesnot od bing dawn fracture and it retains its new i shape. Copper is extremely ductile, Co ee Tin is very ductile and so is t aluminium, Steel is not very ductile 2 ductile material and nor is lead. It fractures easily. «0Elasticity: An elastic material stretches easily under stress. CMO However, remove the stress and it does not retain its new shape. It spring an elastic material Gc store tots orignal shape when : aan eet eee extremely elastic. Some steel are quite elastic. Glass is not at all regains its original shape. Rubber is elastic and nor is cast iron, @. Durability: A durable material does not corrode easily. Under ay normal condition, glass is very f. “ durable and so are plastics. Among 10 the metals, chromium is extremely eos durable and so is platinum. Gold is quite durable and so is aluminium, Cast iron is not very durable and nor is steel. B. HERE ARE OTHER PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS WHICH ARE, IMPORTANT IN ENGINEERING: i 4 Tem? alaminium ‘em? ood 2 light material a heavy material Ge as low mass) (ita high mass) 6tough material a brittle material (it does not break easily) (Gt breaks easily) copper wire {g00d conductor a good conductor of electricity a bad conductor of electricity plastic inulation {i sande) 2 constant load 2 constant load 4, 4 = ara, soft material « hard material (it can be dented or scratched easily) (it cannot be dented or scratched, easily)5, Read these definition: Hardness is the ability to withstand seratching or indentation, Corrosion resistance is the ability to resist chemical or electro-chemical attack, ‘A. material which allows electricity to pass possesses electrical conductivity A material which melts easily has high fusbilty. A material which melts ata very high temperature has low fusbility A light material has low density. A heavy material has high density. C. DEGREES OF COMPARISON 1. The Most Flexible Ron is explaining about pipe materials to Kamal, ‘The steel pipe is the heaviest and the least flexible. The rubber one is the most flexible. The plastic one is the lightest. There are three main materials used in making pipes: metal, rubber and plastic, Metal is stronger than rubber or plastic. It is also heavier and more rigid than rubber or plastic. Rubber is the most flexible of the three materials, but it is the weakest. The lightest of the three materials is plastic. It is also less expensive than either stee! or rubber.2. Look at this table and the example: In the table properties of materials are graded on a scale from A (maximum) to E (minimum): e.g the property of heaviness is graded from vvory heavy (A) to very light (E). Example: Copper is very heavy [Nylon and rubber are very light Cast iron is heavy, but lighter than copper. Glass is lighter than copper and cast iron, but heavier than aluminium, Aluminium is light, but itis heavier than nylon and rubber. Copper | Aluminium | Cast iron | Glass | Nylon | Rubber A D B cele E Heavy (A) ~ Tight « Tough (A) brittle (E) Fe Hard (A) ~ sof (E) ‘A good conductor ‘of electrical (A) ~ a bad conductor of | electricity (E) ‘A. good conductor of heat (A) —a bad conductor of heat e Now complete the table with information from these sentences: ‘Copper is the toughest of the materials. Aluminium, nylon and rubber are tough, but less tough than copper. Cast iron is much more brittle than these materials but less brittle than glass. Rubber isa very soft material Glass isa very hard material. Cast iron isa hard material but it isnot as hard as glass. a[Nylon is harder than rubber Copper and aluminium are softer than east iron and glass but harder than nylon and nubber Glass, nylon and rubber are very poor conductor of electricity and hat. Copper, aluminium and cast iron are good conductors of electricity ‘and heat, but copper is a better conductor than aluminium, and aluminium is a better conductor than cast iron, D. THE PROPERTIES OF ELEMENTS, COMPOUND AND MIXTURES. ‘A substance may be an element, a compound or a mixture, An element, such as nitrogen oF iron, cannot be broken down into simpler substances. When two ‘of more element, they form a compound. When elements combine to form compound, there is a chemical reaction. Some properties of the elements change during the chemical reaction. For ‘example, the element chlorine (C1) is a poisonous yellow gas. Sodium (Na), fon the other hand, is a soft silvery white metal which reacts violenty with water, however, if these elements combine, they form sodium chloride, or salt. This is a harmless white substance When substances are mixed without a chemical reaction, they do not change their properties. Thus a mixture of sand salt is yellowish-white in colour. It tastes both sally and grity. If we put the mixture in water, the salt will dissolve, because it is soluble, But the sand will not dissolve. i point (b.p). The former is the temperature at which it changes from solid to liquid. The latter is Every substance has a melting point (m.p) and a bol the temperature at which it changes from liquid to gas. These changes are called changes of state. Sometimes the properties of a substance change when it changes its state, For example, if temperature of oxygen falls below-183°C, it changes from a colourless gas to a bluish liquid, which is highly magnetic. sBE. 1, Exercise: Complete the sentences ! A brittle material breaks easily eg, glass, A tough material does not break easily enya A hard material is difficult to scratch eg: glass, ‘A soft material is easy to scratch e.g. chalk, ... A flexible material bends easily eg. rubber, ... A rigid material does not bend easily eg. concrete.Combustible materials bum easily; e.g wood, Non combustible materials do not burn, Gg. stony mm Ue aul Materials which are soluble in water dissolve easily; e.g sal, . 2. Now compare these materials (Rubber, Metal, Plastic). Use the correct, form of one of the words in brackets (a) Rubber is than metal or plastic. (strong/ weak). (b) Rubber is also ___ than the other two materials (flexiblerrigid) (©) The___of the three materials is metal. (strong/weak). (@) The of the three materials is plastic. (expe (©) Plastic is than metal. (heavy/light) (0) Metal is the __ of the three materials. (heavy/light) 3. Compare these materials. Make sentences: Example: (a) Paper is more combustible than glass. (a) paperiglass ~ combustible (b) rubberistee! — rigid (©) glass/wood — brittle (@) steel/gold ~ expensive (€) wood/eonerete ~ heavy (D) steeV/lead hard o4. Answer these question (a) Which is the most combustible of these three substances: steel, wood or stone? (®) Which is the hardest of these substances: wood, steel or iron ? (©) Which is the least flexible of these substances: concrete, paper cor rubber ? (@ Which is the lightest of these items: a bucketful of sand, a bucketful of nails, a bucketful of ‘water, or a bucketfil of sawdust ? some exiremely quite contain ‘mamufacture ’ regains easily ‘material retain elastic pressure stress elasticity property well Complete the following paragraph from the above wordlist ! Elasticity isa of materials. An elastic stretches easily under However, it does not its new shape. Remove the stress and it rapidly its original shape. Rubber is elastic and some plastics are also clastic All materials have some Among the metals, steels are quite elastic. These stects litte carbon. However, itis very difficult to very elastic steels because steel with a lot carbon in them become very britl. A britle materials fracture “F. ASSESSMENT 1. Answer these questions : Why does a glass break if you drop it? Why is butter easy to cut? Why is plastic used for battery casing ? Why is copper used for making wires ? Why is steel used for making springs ? What is the difference between an element and a compound ? Give some examples of each . ‘What is the difference between 2 compound and a mixture ? Say two things about compounds which are not true about mixtures. Sodium chloride is harmless. Are sodium and chlorine harmless ? Give reasons for your answer. Why does salt dissolve in water and why does not sand not dissolve 2 ‘What isthe boiling point of oxygen ? 2. Answer these questions : a You want to buy new water pipes for your house. You do not have very much money. Which material do you use ? Why? What's wrong, with metal ? ‘You need a pipe to carry water from an electric pump to a water tank. When the pump ison, it moves a lot from side to side. Which material do you use? Why? Why do you not use metal ? Which material do you use to carry oil across the desert ? Why ? ‘What's wrong with rubber ? o d