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
Superconductor magnet spacecraft heat shield being developed
Nov 26, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (44) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- European space agencies and an aerospace giant are developing a new re-entry heat shield that will use superconductor magnets to generate a magnetic field strong enough to deflect the superhot ...
Gallium nitride transistor could replace silicon
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (36) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Cornell researcher has created an extremely efficient transistor made from gallium nitride, which may soon replace silicon as king of semiconductors for power applications.
Next generation lens promises more control
Dec 20, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (22) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Duke University engineers have created a new generation of lens that could greatly improve the capabilities of telecommunications or radar systems to provide a wide field of view and greater ...
Entropy alone creates complex crystals from simple shapes, study shows
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a study that elevates the role of entropy in creating order, research led by the University of Michigan shows that certain pyramid shapes can spontaneously organize into complex quasicrystals.
Tiny magnetic discs could kill cancer cells: study
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 29, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (23) |
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Tiny magnetic discs just a millionth of a metre in diameter could be used to used to kill cancer cells, according to a study published on Sunday.
Dutch PhD student develops device to combat noise
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Johan Wesselink of the University of Twente, The Netherlands, has developed a device to actively combat noise nuisance. This invention curtails sound waves and vibrations by producing anti-noise. The researcher is confident ...
Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics
Nov 26, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (12) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers ...
An easy way to see the world's thinnest material
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 23, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (10) |
1
It's been used to dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. It's been used to find latent blood stains at crime scenes. And now researchers at Northwestern University have used it to examine the thinnest material ...
New materials designed to deal with hypersonic and supersonic hot stuff (w/ Video)
Dec 24, 2009 |
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University of Queensland researchers are testing new materials to withstand the extreme heat experienced by hypersonic vehicles in flight so they can fly for substantially longer.
Valuable, rare, raw earth materials extracted from industrial waste stream
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Fierce competition over raw materials for new green technologies could become a thing of the past, thanks to a discovery by scientists from the University of Leeds.
Japan mines toxic e-waste for precious materials
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Seeking to turn an environmental problem into an economic opportunity, high-tech companies in resource-poor Japan are mining mountains of toxic e-waste for precious materials.
Security ID cards with built-in holograms (w/ Video)
Dec 01, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic cards with security features are ubiquitous these days, having a wide variety of uses such as credit cards, employee cards, licenses, and so on. Many have holographic images, but they ...
Chemists get custom-designed microscopic particles to self-assemble in liquid crystal
Nov 25, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The scientists anticipate their "LithoParticles" will have significant applications in photonics, optical communications and other areas.
First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers ...
Tracking new cancer-killing particles with MRI
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have created a single nanoparticle that can be tracked in real time with MRI as it homes in on cancer cells, tags them with a fluorescent ...
