Materials in Today's World

Catalog description

A survey of the properties, manufacture, and uses of polymers, ceramics, and metals in today's world with emphasis on modern developments and new materials. This course presents the basic science and technology of materials to non-science students. The course concentrates on 'Materials in Today's World' but frames the discussion in a relevant historical framework. Course topics are built around 'The Central Paradigm of Materials Science and Engineering;' which links processing to structures to properties to performance. First, students are introduced to the basic concepts of metals and nonmetals, and to a fundamental understanding of The Periodic Table. From these conceptual ideas, ceramics and electronic materials are rationalized on the basis of their electronic structures. The properties of materials, e.g., mechanical, thermal, electronic, and photonic, are developed directly from the structural knowledge of the materials classifications. The concept of materials design is introduced with respect to the properties of density, melting point, and hardness. Current practices for processing and manufacturing of materials are compared with methods that were employed in antiquity. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts: Natural Sciences (BA) and General Education: Natural Sciences (GN) Penn State requirements.