An Introduction to Materials Engineering and Science
For Chemical and Materials Engineers
Chapter One
The Structure of Materials
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
A wealth of information can be obtained by looking at the structure of a material.
Though there are many levels of structure (e.g., atomic vs. macroscopic), many physical
properties of a material can be related directly to the arrangement and types of
bonds that make up that material. We will begin by reviewing some general chemical
principles that will aid us in our description of material structure. Such topics as periodic
structure, types of bonding, and potential energy diagrams will be reviewed. We
will then use this information to look at the specific materials categories in more detail:
metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and biological materials (biologics). There will
be topics that are specific to each materia ... read full excerpt from An Introduction to Materials Engineering and Science: For Chemical and Materials Engineers ebook
