Material Categories: Timbers, Metals and Polymers
How designers sort materials into families: timbers as hardwoods, softwoods and manufactured boards; metals as ferrous, non-ferrous and alloys; and polymers as thermoforming and thermosetting.
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Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Sorting materials
Designers work with a huge range of materials, so they sort them into families. The main families are timbers, metals, polymers, papers and boards, and textiles. Each family is then split into smaller groups. This module looks at how timbers, metals and polymers are grouped, and how to tell the groups apart.
Words for the groups
Learn these four terms before you sort the materials.
Hardwood vs softwood
Both are timbers, but they come from different kinds of tree.
Do not judge by the name
The words hardwood and softwood describe the type of tree, not how hard the timber really is. Balsa is a hardwood, yet it is one of the softest timbers of all. So always sort a timber by the tree it came from, not by how hard it feels.
Match the category
- oak
- aluminium
- acrylic
- MDF
- a hardwood
- a non-ferrous metal
- a thermoforming polymer
- a manufactured board
Match the clue
- ferrous metal
- thermosetting polymer
- softwood
- alloy
- it can rust and a magnet sticks to it
- once set it cannot be melted and reshaped
- it grows quickly and is often used in building
- it is a mixture of two or more metals
Spot the ferrous metal
Which of these is a ferrous metal?
- High carbon steel.
- Aluminium.
- Copper.
- Brass.
Pick the hardwoods
Select the TWO timbers that are hardwoods.
- Ash.
- Beech.
- Pine.
- Acrylic.
Sort a timber
Put the steps of sorting a piece of timber into order, earliest first.
- See that the material is a timber
- Decide if it is a hardwood or a softwood
- Check the kind of tree it came from
- Name an example, such as the species
Complete the rules
Timber from a broadleaved tree is a _____. Timber from a coniferous tree is a _____. A metal made mostly of iron is a _____ metal. MDF and plywood are examples of manufactured _____. A polymer that can be reheated and reshaped is a _____ polymer.
Families left to sort
A designer is grouping materials from three families: timbers, metals and polymers. She has already sorted two of the families. How many families are left to sort?
Find the thermoforming polymers
Tap the TWO polymers that are thermoforming, so they can be reheated and reshaped.
- HIPS
- PVC
- epoxy resin
- melamine
Which family?
Read each description and choose the material family it belongs to.
- A sheet of acrylic turns soft and bendy when it is warmed in an oven
- A bar of aluminium feels cold, is not magnetic and does not rust
- A plank has a clear grain and came from a tall coniferous tree
Explain the categories
Explain how designers sort materials into families. Name the main families and describe one way a family is split into smaller groups.
- Name three main material families
- Give one example material from each family
- Describe one way a family is split into smaller groups