Material
hideMaterial is synonymous with Substance, and is anything made of matter - hydrogen, air and water are all examples of materials. Sometimes the term Material is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties which are used as inputs to production or manufacturing. In this sense, materials are the pieces required to make something else, from buildings and art to stars and computers.
A material can be anything: a finished product in its own right or an unprocessed raw material. Raw materials are first extracted or harvested from the earth and divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored, then processed to produce semi-finished materials. These can be input into a new cycle of production and finishing processes to create finished materials, ready for distribution, construction, and consumption.
An example of a raw material is cotton, which is harvested from plants, and can then be processed into thread (also considered a raw material), which can then be woven into cloth, a semi-finished material. Cutting and sewing the fabric turns it into a garment, which is a finished material. Steelmaking is another example—raw materials in the form of ore are mined, refined and processed into steel, a semi-finished material. Steel is then used as an input in many other industries to make finished products.
For more information about Material, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with materials
Metal-Air Battery Could Store 11 Times More Energy than Lithium-Ion
Nov 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A spinoff company from Arizona State University plans to build a new battery with an energy density 11 times greater than that of lithium-ion batteries for just one-third the cost. With a ...
Perfectly proportioned: Working to improve dry compaction and sintering
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The manufacture of parts by compaction and sintering involves filling a die with metal powder. Research scientists have simulated this process for the first time to achieve an evenly distributed ...
Sandia announces completion of mixed waste landfill cover construction
Nov 03, 2009 |
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The Environmental Restoration Project at Sandia National Laboratories reports the successful construction of an alternative evapotranspirative cover at the Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) in September. The 2.6-acre ...
Smart drug delivery system -- Gold nanocage covered with polymer (w/ Video)
Nov 01, 2009 |
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In campy old movies, Lucretia Borgia swans around emptying powder from her ring into wine glasses carelessly left unattended. The poison ring is usually a confection of gold filigree holding a cabochon or ...
Scientists witness nature's complexity unfold in self-assembling quasicrystals
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 31, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (17) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that all ordered matter consists of self-repeating building blocks -- atoms, ions or molecules. In this view, the ordinary solids of everyday life ...
Nano-Scale Drug Delivery For Chemotherapy
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 31, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (12) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Going smaller could bring better results, especially when it comes to cancer-fighting drugs.
Improved adhesive for products like transparent tape could benefit biofuels economy
Oct 29, 2009 |
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An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher.
Harvesting Energy from Natural Motion: Magnets, Cantilever Capture Wide Range of Frequencies
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By taking advantage of the vagaries of the natural world, Duke University engineers have developed a novel approach that they believe can more efficiently harvest electricity from the motions ...
New methods are changing old materials
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A company that makes steel for bearings used in heavy trucks had a big problem. The trucks travel through harsh, perilous environments such as Siberia, and an unexpected bearing failure on ...
EPA's new green parking lot allows scientists to study permeable surfaces that may help the environment
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Paved parking lots and driveways make our lives easier, but they often create an easy pathway for pollutants to reach underground water sources and alter the natural flow of water back into the ground. The U.S. Environmental ...
Study examines how much is too much visual information when it comes to learning
Oct 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It’s been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. But with advances in computer graphics capabilities, more recent cognitive theory related to multimedia learning suggests that very ...
First hyperlens for sound waves created
Oct 25, 2009 |
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Ultrasound and underwater sonar devices could "see" a big improvement thanks to development of the world's first acoustic hyperlens. Created by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley ...
Transforming nanowires into nano-tools using cation exchange reactions
Oct 23, 2009 |
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A team of engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has transformed simple nanowires into reconfigurable materials and circuits, demonstrating a novel, self-assembling method for chemically creating nanoscale ...
Researchers find new route to nano self-assembly
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If the promise of nanotechnology is to be fulfilled, nanoparticles will have to be able to make something of themselves. An important advance towards this goal has been achieved by researchers ...
New material could efficiently power tiny generators
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- To power a very small device like a pacemaker or a transistor, you need an even smaller generator. The components that operate the generator are smaller yet, and the efficiency of those foundational components ...
