Materials

• Polymers

  • Often flexible, so can be bent without breaking
  • Often cheaper than most resources
  • Less dense than most materials, and so are used in designing products that must have a low mass
  • Thermal and electrical insulators
  • However, over time they degrade and break down (not very long lasting)
• Ceramics (eg. glass)

  • Insulators of heat and electricity
  • Brittle and stiff, can't be reshaped
  • Strong and hard wearing (long lasting)
• Metals

  • Conductors of heat and electricity
  • Malleable, so can be reshaped
• Composites

  • Very expensive
  • Have different properties based of the materials used
  • Can be designed to have a specific purpose