What is Materials Science?
3:58:14 2023-06-08 721

Many people are not familiar with the subject matter and discipline of materials science because it’s not taught in elementary or high school and only infrequently at the university level. Instead, we are often taught chemistry and physics. Chemistry teaches us how atoms and molecules interact, while physics studies the forces and laws of nature that govern interactions of matter and energy. But there must be something that ties these two together—the interactions of atoms to form molecules, the interactions of molecules to form other molecules, and the interactions of large collections of molecules to determine the properties of a material.

The properties of a material are also the properties of every physical thing we use and interact with daily. Tying together the molecular-level structure to the macroscopic properties of objects is where materials science comes in. Understanding this discipline can be the key to unlocking a new perspective for engineers who are developing new products.

The field of materials science is the study of materials with a focus on their composition, structure, and properties. The interdisciplinary field combines physics, chemistry and engineering and encompasses all-natural and artificial materials. This includes metals, ceramics, glasses, polymers, semiconductors, and composites. 

A "material" is a collection of many atoms or molecules, where the collection typically behaves differently than the individual parts. For example, when one or a few water molecules behave chemically similar to the molecules in a glass of water, but the few molecules are not a liquid, they don’t flow, and they don’t exhibit viscosity or surface tension. These are properties of large collections of molecules and are examples of properties of a material: properties that depend on the collective interaction of many molecules or atoms. Understanding and predicting material properties requires understanding the behavior of individual atoms and molecules and the behavior of large collections of these components. Materials scientists can use this understanding to develop new materials that follow a set list of desired properties.

A great example is gold. As an element, it has distinct chemical properties; however, when a few thousand gold atoms are combined to form a thin gold foil, it exhibits collective behavior that a single gold atom cannot. The collection of gold atoms can be bent, stretched, or hammered to form objects that retain their shape and show new properties that make gold a useful substance, like heat and electrical conduction. Properties like electrical conductivity and malleability are material properties, i.e., properties of large collections of atoms. Single atoms and molecules cannot exhibit these properties.

Why Do We Learn?   2025-08-15
Reality Of Islam

A Mathematical Approach to the Quran

10:52:33   2024-02-16  

mediation

2:36:46   2023-06-04  

what Allah hates the most

5:1:47   2023-06-01  

allahs fort

11:41:7   2023-05-30  

striving for success

2:35:47   2023-06-04  

Imam Ali Describes the Holy Quran

5:0:38   2023-06-01  

livelihood

11:40:13   2023-05-30  

silence about wisdom

3:36:19   2023-05-29  

MOST VIEWS

Importance of Media

9:3:43   2018-11-05

Illuminations

the 1st ever brothers

6:14:17   2018-06-21

be creative

8:25:12   2022-03-09

bahlool & a businessman

8:21:9   2018-06-21

good people

11:34:48   2022-06-29

abbas-ibn-firnas

3:42:22   2021-12-24

logic

12:47:1   2022-12-20

life temptations

10:35:40   2022-05-26



IMmORTAL Words
LATEST How Do We Respond to Provocation? Interpretation of Sura Maryam - Verses 12-13 Youth and Historical Responsibility Mixing Coffee and Antibiotics Could Be a Bad Idea, Study Shows Breathing Crystal Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Clean Energy Swarms of Tiny Catfish Seen Climbing Waterfalls in Surprise Discovery Localization of Technology Interpretation of Sura Maryam (Mary) - Verse 11 On the Path of Responsibility Your Heart Is Vulnerable. These 4 Things Will Help You Protect It. Your Phone Is Covered in All Kinds of Germs. Here is The Solution. Study Confirms Abrupt Changes in Antarctica – And the World Will Feel Them