History of Materials Project
Reflection
The chemistry of materials has had a tremendous impact on human advances all throughout history. Nearly every structure built today is made up of a type of metal because we can easily change the properties of these materials. However, most big structures built hundreds and thousands of years before were made of large stones and took decades to finish. But we still admire these great structures for the heaps of extremely hard work it took to build. We always used glass, metals and ceramic materials for all the things we thought we needed until polymers were developed around a hundred years ago. And now more than ever, we can transform the molecular structures of so many different materials. It is this capability that led to all the technological achievements in human history.
The structure of matter on the atomic level can determine the properties of a material in various ways. First of all, there are many many methods used to change the structure of a material; it all depends on the type of matter. For example, if an ice cube is left out at room temperature, it melts and turns from a solid to a liquid. The water molecules in the ice cube are very compact and barely moving because the temperature is very low. When the molecules warm up, they get more energy and energy releases heat. This energy enables motion and slowly the molecules move faster and separate more, becoming liquid water. So the structure of the molecules in a material can be changed to become stronger-which is the formation of many molecules-, weaker-which is the breaking of bonds between molecules-, or just rearranged to change the state of matter.
The chemistry of materials has had a tremendous impact on human advances all throughout history. Nearly every structure built today is made up of a type of metal because we can easily change the properties of these materials. However, most big structures built hundreds and thousands of years before were made of large stones and took decades to finish. But we still admire these great structures for the heaps of extremely hard work it took to build. We always used glass, metals and ceramic materials for all the things we thought we needed until polymers were developed around a hundred years ago. And now more than ever, we can transform the molecular structures of so many different materials. It is this capability that led to all the technological achievements in human history.
The structure of matter on the atomic level can determine the properties of a material in various ways. First of all, there are many many methods used to change the structure of a material; it all depends on the type of matter. For example, if an ice cube is left out at room temperature, it melts and turns from a solid to a liquid. The water molecules in the ice cube are very compact and barely moving because the temperature is very low. When the molecules warm up, they get more energy and energy releases heat. This energy enables motion and slowly the molecules move faster and separate more, becoming liquid water. So the structure of the molecules in a material can be changed to become stronger-which is the formation of many molecules-, weaker-which is the breaking of bonds between molecules-, or just rearranged to change the state of matter.
How Much Do You Know About Magnets?
Today, we use magnets in so many different ways. From credit cards to electric motors to refrigerators, we use magnets for things we don’t even realize are magnetized. Magnets have had such a significant impact on what we know today about electricity and they have been a navigational phenomenon for over a thousand years.
Magnetite is the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The magnetized pieces of magnetite are known as lodestone-the material discovered roughly 2600 years ago that lead to the first understandings of the properties of magnetism. For the next thousand years or so, people only thought to use magnets for compasses and was referred to as “leading stone”. During all this time, magnetism was thought to be a form of magic because it’s fundamental properties could not be explained. It wasn’t until 1269 that a scholar, Petrus Peregrinus, performed simple experiments with magnets and found that their function was not, in fact, a supernatural manifestation, but a natural occurrence in the earth. He was first to explain the properties of magnetism.
Ferromagnetic materials are naturally magnetic. These types of materials are called permanent magnets because they produce their own magnetic field. Lodestone is a permanent magnet since it’s magnetism occurs naturally. Ferromagnetic materials are made up of “tiny magnets”, which are electrons. So really, atoms are made of a bunch of microscopic magnets. Cool, right? Since atoms are electrically charged, they create the electromagnetic force that holds the particles in the atom together. So in this way, the opposite ends of the tiny magnets align themselves to face the same direction which cancels out the neutral charge of an atom. However, this can only happen if the atoms in a solid mineral have approximately half of a full octet of electrons. If you look at the periodic table, you will see that the metals we know are magnetic never lay to the ends of the four blocks on the table because they’re valence electron shell is not full. So, if the atom’s outer shell of electrons is nearly half full, the mineral is magnetic and will produce a natural electric field without any outside influence.
It wasn’t until the early 1600s when a physician, physicist and philosopher, William Gilbert, discovered that the earth itself was magnetic and explained in his book, De Magnete, why the needle of a compass always points to the north.
So, we all know that the needle of a compass points North and the opposite end points South. The reason for this is that all magnets have two sides: their “north” and “south poles”. The “north pole” of a magnet will be attracted to another magnet’s “south pole” and vise versa. So, technically the earth’s North Pole is really the “south pole” of it’s magnetic field because the north end of a compass can only point to it’s opposite. This also explains why the similar sides of two magnets never attract.
Electromagnetism was first introduced in the early 1800s by H.C. Oersted when he placed a compass next to a wire with an electric current going through it. He discovered that magnetism and electricity had a relationship because an electric current produces a magnetic field. When he conducted this experiment, the needle on the compass was deflected by the current and no longer pointed North. Electromagnetism is the strongest force of magnetism there is. This discovery was the breakthrough in finding out about electricity and all of it’s possibilities. Electromagnetism altered the pathway for the use of magnets from compasses to nearly every electrically powered device we use today.
Next time you send a text, turn on a switch, open your refrigerator, or start your engine, you will know that none of that would be possible had the Greek shepherd, Magnes, not accidentally stepped on a lodestone boulder to find the iron nails in his shoes stuck to the rock. Magnets truly are a phenomenon, so lets take a moment to be fascinated by the remarkable invention of a compass and all the scientific discoveries it led to.
Today, we use magnets in so many different ways. From credit cards to electric motors to refrigerators, we use magnets for things we don’t even realize are magnetized. Magnets have had such a significant impact on what we know today about electricity and they have been a navigational phenomenon for over a thousand years.
Magnetite is the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals. The magnetized pieces of magnetite are known as lodestone-the material discovered roughly 2600 years ago that lead to the first understandings of the properties of magnetism. For the next thousand years or so, people only thought to use magnets for compasses and was referred to as “leading stone”. During all this time, magnetism was thought to be a form of magic because it’s fundamental properties could not be explained. It wasn’t until 1269 that a scholar, Petrus Peregrinus, performed simple experiments with magnets and found that their function was not, in fact, a supernatural manifestation, but a natural occurrence in the earth. He was first to explain the properties of magnetism.
Ferromagnetic materials are naturally magnetic. These types of materials are called permanent magnets because they produce their own magnetic field. Lodestone is a permanent magnet since it’s magnetism occurs naturally. Ferromagnetic materials are made up of “tiny magnets”, which are electrons. So really, atoms are made of a bunch of microscopic magnets. Cool, right? Since atoms are electrically charged, they create the electromagnetic force that holds the particles in the atom together. So in this way, the opposite ends of the tiny magnets align themselves to face the same direction which cancels out the neutral charge of an atom. However, this can only happen if the atoms in a solid mineral have approximately half of a full octet of electrons. If you look at the periodic table, you will see that the metals we know are magnetic never lay to the ends of the four blocks on the table because they’re valence electron shell is not full. So, if the atom’s outer shell of electrons is nearly half full, the mineral is magnetic and will produce a natural electric field without any outside influence.
It wasn’t until the early 1600s when a physician, physicist and philosopher, William Gilbert, discovered that the earth itself was magnetic and explained in his book, De Magnete, why the needle of a compass always points to the north.
So, we all know that the needle of a compass points North and the opposite end points South. The reason for this is that all magnets have two sides: their “north” and “south poles”. The “north pole” of a magnet will be attracted to another magnet’s “south pole” and vise versa. So, technically the earth’s North Pole is really the “south pole” of it’s magnetic field because the north end of a compass can only point to it’s opposite. This also explains why the similar sides of two magnets never attract.
Electromagnetism was first introduced in the early 1800s by H.C. Oersted when he placed a compass next to a wire with an electric current going through it. He discovered that magnetism and electricity had a relationship because an electric current produces a magnetic field. When he conducted this experiment, the needle on the compass was deflected by the current and no longer pointed North. Electromagnetism is the strongest force of magnetism there is. This discovery was the breakthrough in finding out about electricity and all of it’s possibilities. Electromagnetism altered the pathway for the use of magnets from compasses to nearly every electrically powered device we use today.
Next time you send a text, turn on a switch, open your refrigerator, or start your engine, you will know that none of that would be possible had the Greek shepherd, Magnes, not accidentally stepped on a lodestone boulder to find the iron nails in his shoes stuck to the rock. Magnets truly are a phenomenon, so lets take a moment to be fascinated by the remarkable invention of a compass and all the scientific discoveries it led to.