materials

What separates us from other animals was our ability to use tools. This is why we have become the dominant species on the planet. Much time has passed since rocks were used to open nuts and wooden spears were used as weapons. This site is a collaboration of billions of tools, while it may have been written on a computer with metals, plastics and different semiconductor materials, the internet has been based on everything that went before it.

We need to study materials because we need to continue to make tools, and to do this best we need to know about the materials themselves and their properties.

List of Materials

• Metals
• Plastics
• Woods
• Rubber
• Ceramics
• Semiconductor
• Glass
• Fabrics

All objects are made from different materials, and usually this is because the material has a certain property

A BBC page that explains how to make choices on materials.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/21c/materials/usingmaterialsrev2.shtml

Sources of Materials

Where do we get the various materials?

Manufacturing / Purification process

How are the materials made ?

Disposal of Materials

How we get rid of such materials

Hazardous Materials

Materials that are dangerous to organic life