Modern, Smart and Composite Materials
The new families of material a designer can choose: modern materials made by new processes, smart materials that respond to a stimulus, and composites that combine materials for better properties.
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New kinds of material 🧱
Designers can now choose from families of material that older products never had. Modern materials are made by new or improved processes. Smart materials change in a controlled, reversible way when something in their surroundings changes. Composite materials combine two or more materials to gain a property that neither one has on its own.
Words for new materials 🔑
Learn these four terms before you compare the material families.
Three material families 🆚
Keep these three apart. The difference is how each one is defined.
Grade 9 thinking 💡
Examiners often see these three confused. Remember that only a smart material must be reversible: it responds to a stimulus and can change back. A modern material is simply made by a new process, and a composite is defined by combining materials. Always say which property made the designer choose it.
Match the family to its meaning 🔗
- modern material
- smart material
- composite material
- technical textile
- developed through a new or improved process
- changes in a reversible way in response to a stimulus
- two or more materials combined for enhanced properties
- a fabric given an enhanced property, such as being fire-resistant
Match the example to its family 🧩
- graphene
- shape memory alloy
- GRP
- kevlar
- a modern material made by a new process
- a smart material that responds to heat
- a composite that combines glass and plastic
- a technical textile that resists cutting
What makes a material smart? ❓
What makes a material a smart material?
- Its property changes in a controlled, reversible way in response to a stimulus.
- It is always the strongest material available.
- It is made by combining two or more materials.
Spot the composites ✅
Select the TWO composite materials.
- GRP, glass fibres set in plastic.
- Carbon fibre set in resin.
- Titanium.
- Thermochromic pigment.
Order the choice 🪜
An interactive activity.
Summarise the families 📝
A _____ material has a property that changes in a controlled, reversible way when it meets a _____, such as heat or light. A material made by combining two or more materials for better properties is a _____ material, such as GRP. A material developed through a new process, such as graphene, is a _____ material. Designers pick each one for the useful _____ it provides.
Count the materials 🔢
An interactive activity.
Find the smart materials 🖍️
An interactive activity.
Which family is it? 🧭
An interactive activity.
Explain a choice ✍️
An interactive activity.