What are ceramics used for? The interesting question is why ceramics behave like this—and the no-less-interesting answer boils down to materials science : it's all to do with how the atoms inside are bonded together. That explains how most materials work In metals, for example, atoms are relatively weakly bonded (which is why most metals are fairly soft); their electrons are shared between them in a kind of sea that can "wash" right through them, which is (simplistically speaking) why they conduct electricity and heat . A material like rubber , on the other hand, is made of long-chain molecules (polymers) that are very weakly attached to one another; that's why raw, white, latex rubber is so stretchy and why black, vulcanized rubber (like that used in car tires) is harder and stronger, because heat-and-sulfur treatment makes strong cross-links form between the polymer chains, holding them tightly together. All the electrons are locked up in bonds of various kinds (...
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A brief history of ceramics 23,000–25,000 BCE: Earliest use of human ceramics (for example, in figurines of humans and other animals made of pottery, discovered at Dolní Věstonice in the Czech Republic). 14,000BCE: Ceramic tiles are being made in India and Mesopotamia. 18,000–14,000 BCE: Earliest use of pottery vessels (for example, in Jiangxi, China ). 7500–6500BCE: First use of mud bricks. 6000 BCE: Earliest known kiln (Yarim Tepe site in modern Iraq) 5000–8000 BCE: First use of glazes. Nile Valley of Egypt. According to [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PAZR-A9Ra6EC] 3500–5000BCE: Earliest use of glass (according to Eric Le Bourhis in Glass: Mechanics and Technology ). 3500–2500BCE: Invention of the potter's wheel . Mid-late 1900s: Development of effective glass and ceramic insulators for telegraphs and electric power distribution. 1940s: Development of ferrite magnets for such things as loudspeakers and electric motors. 1986: High-temperature s...
What properties do ceramics have? As we've already seen, the most important general property of ceramics is that they're refractory: they're rough-and-tumble materials that will put up with fair amounts of abuse in the most ordinary and extraordinary situations. Just consider, most of us tile our kitchens and bathrooms because ceramic tiles are hard, waterproof, largely resistant to scratches, and keep on looking good for year upon year; but engineers also put (very different!) ceramic tiles on space rockets to protect them against heat when they whiz back to Earth. If we're summarizing their properties, we can say that ceramics have: High melting points (so they're heat resistant). Great hardness and strength. Considerable durability (they're long-lasting and hard-wearing). Low electrical and thermal conductivity (they're good insulators).




Wow!! Very nice Ceremic Art work.
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