Part I
1. Do you know the following materials? Match the materials to their definitions below:
| glass plastic metal |
| a type of solid substance that is usually hard and shiny, that conducts heat and electricity. | ||
| hard, transparent substance (material), produced by mixing sand with soda by glass-blowing process; usually used in windows. | ||
| a light strong material that is made with chemicals and is used for making many different kinds of objects. |
What can be made of these materials?
Which material is the best for dishes?
2. Which is the best material for the following objects and why?
a folk, a football, a window, a bicycle, a plate
(“Engineering” Workshop by Lindsey White, OUP; Unit 5, pg.6, ex.1)
3. Read the information in the table below and put each heading into the correct column (A, B, or C). What is the order of materials in column “A”?
| Uses Properties Material |
| A _________ | B __________ | C __________ | |
| aluminium | light, easy to shape | aircraft, window and door frames, cooking foil | |
| brass (copper and zinc) | doesn’t rust in contact with air and water, strong | valves, taps | |
| cement | mixed with water it dries to a hard material | pre-made building blocks, to hold bricks together | |
| copper | easily made into wire, carries electricity well | electrical wire, tubing | |
| diamond | hardest natural materials, can cut glass and metal | industrial cutting and grinding | |
| glass | clear, hard, breaks easily | windows, bottles | |
| iron | hard | engineering | |
| mild steel (iron +0.15-0.3% carbon | hard, strong, quite easy to shape | bridges, ships, cars | |
| optical fibre | carries light and coded messages | lighting, cable TV, telecommunications | |
| plastic | light, strong, easy to shape | hard hats, computer casing |
(“Engineering” Workshop by Lindsey White, OUP; Unit 5, pg.6, ex.2)
4. Read the information in the table from ex.3 again and find out which material (1-10) is best for:
| a) | water pipes | |
| b) | a knife for cutting a microscope lens | |
| c) | connecting a socket to the electricity supply | |
| d) | a bicycle frame | |
| e) | television casing |
(“Engineering” Workshop by Lindsey White, OUP; Unit 5, pg.6, ex.3)