Classifying materials

This week we have looked at classifying materials. The students examined a bike and identified all the products used to make it. This included everything from the paint to the foam inside the seat.

We then looked around the room and classified as many things as we could into the following categories:

• Organic Plastics/synthetics 
• Composites 
• Ceramics 
• Metals 
• Natural fabrics 

We took a deeper look into metals. We examined a variety of metals and then the students researched a particular metal and shared back their expertise. The students looked into the metal's melting point, conductivity, malleability and all sorts of other information. Mercury was a fascinating metal to look into as it is one of the only metals that is liquid at room temperature.

 

An interesting question is what actually is a metal. What makes something a metal? This is a definition of a metal:

Any chemical element that is an effective conductor of electricity and heat can be defined as a metal.

Some definitions:

• Alloy - a metal made from a combination of metals, e.g. steel (iron and carbon), brass (copper and zinc), Bronze (copper and tin).
• Galvanized - coated in a protective layer of zinc.
• Stainless steel - steel with a high amount of chromium which stops it from corroding.
• Malleability - how easily its shape can be changed.