Materials Science

An ant viewed by a scanning electron microscope.

Materials science is the study of the structural and functional properties of materials. It focuses on the factors inherent within materials that influence their properties. These factors include composition, the structure of the matter within the material and the type and quantity of defects that are present. It is a multidisciplinary subject that draws upon and feeds back to the learning in just about every field of science and engineering in some way or another placing the subject in a central role to many of the activities in these related subjects.

This book is aimed at those studying materials science at the undergraduate level in university whether as their major field or as a single module of a related engineering course.

Contents

1. /Introduction/
2. /Structure of Matter/
3. /Defects and Microstructure/
4. /Diffusion/
5. /Mechanical Properties/
6. /Material Processing/
7. /Thermodynamics/
8. /Materials/
9. /Material Characterization/
10. /Thermochromics/
11. /Crystallography/
12. /Biocompatible Material/
13. /Analytical Techniques/
14. /Useful Formulas/

Common Symbols

Term	Definition	Units (metric)	Subject
r	radius	m	/Structure of Matter/
$a_0$	unit cell dimension	m	/Structure of Matter/
APF	Atomic Packing Factor		/Structure of Matter/
$\rho$	density	$g/c{m}^3$
n	number of atoms/ unit cell		/Structure of Matter/
A	atomic weight	g/mol	/Structure of Matter/
$V_c$	Volume of unit cell	$m^3$	/Structure of Matter/
$N_A$	Avogadro's number	6.022 E23 atoms/mol	/Structure of Matter/

Glossary

Term	Definition	Notes
Bonding Energy	Energy required to separate two atoms to and infinite separation	Example
Polymer	Example	Example
Mer	Example	Example
Ceramic	Material that is nonmetallic and inorganic
Covalent
Ionic
Electronegativity
Crystal
Polymorphism
Allotropy
Linear Density
Planar Density
Number-average
Weight-average
Thermoplastics
Thermoset
Copolymer
Monopolymer