Discuss scientific and technical concepts related to materials science. Use the

Question

Discuss scientific and technical concepts related to materials science. Use the manufacturing of one of the following materials as the basis for your response:

Plastics
Glass
Metals

Discuss how materials science has advanced to the stage where materials can be engineered to fit a specific purpose.

Provide an example of an application or object that is made of materials specifically engineered for that purpose.

Support your statements with examples. Provide a minimum of three scholarly references.

Write your initial response in 2–3 paragraphs. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.

Explanation / Answer

Materials science is a relatively new and very broad field. It involves applications from a number scientific disciplines that contribute to the creation of new materials. Chemists play a predominant role in materials science because chemistry provides information about the structure and composition of materials, as well as the processes to synthesize and use them.

The central theory behind materials science involves relating the microstructure of a material to its macromolecular physical and chemical properties. By understanding and then changing the microstructure, material scientists tailor the properties to create custom, or even brand new, materials with specific properties for specific uses.

Materials scientists are employed by companies who make products from metals, ceramics, and rubber. They also work in the coatings (developing new varieties of paint) and biomedical industries (designing materials that are compatible with human tissues for prosthetics and implants). Other important areas are polymers (including biological polymers), composites (heterogeneous materials made of two or more substances), superconducting materials, graphite materials, integrated-circuit chips, and fuel cells.

Materials science spans so many different disciplines and applications that people who work in this field tend to specialize in a technique or material type. Students are urged to contact associations for ceramic manufacturers, synthetic rubber makers, paints and coatings manufacturers, and plastics makers to find out more about each of these areas and the opportunities that exist for materials chemists in each of them.

Glass is itself an extremely important part of technology, pharmaceuticals and so on, with glass being defined as much more than the material used to make a window. In fact, any solid that does not have an ordered crystalline structure that forms a molten liquid when heated to a specific temperature is considered a glass.

The theory itself relies on two concepts. One is that of molecular crowding, which essentially describes how molecules in glass move like people in a crowded room. More molecules means that free volume decreases and molecules are restricted in how fast they can move. In a crowded room, people close to the door can move more freely — which is also true of molecules close to the surface of the glass.

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