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Unit 3: PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
1. What materials do you know?
In about one minute, write down names of as many materials as you can think of.
Compare the list with your partner. Discuss the use of the listed materials and their
advantages/disadvantages.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/2483.html)
2. Can you guess which material is described below?
1. ________ is made by melting sand and other minerals together at very high temperatures.
It is normally transparent and can be made into many different shapes.
2. ________ come from rocks called ores. They are strong, hard and shiny materials that can
be hammered into different shapes without breaking. Many _______ are good conductors of
heat and electricity.
3. _________ are materials made from chemicals and are not found in nature. They are strong
and waterproof, and can be made into any shape by applying heat. They are good electrical
insulators as they do not conduct heat or electricity.
3. Read the following adjectives describing properties and give more examples of
materials or things with this property. Form nouns from the adjectives:1
A brittle material or
thing breaks easily;
e.g. glass, egg,. .
noun:
A soft material is easy
to scratch
e.g. chalk
noun:
A tough material /
thing does not break
easily;
e.g. steel,. . .
noun:
A flexible material
bends easily:
e.g. rubber, ..
noun:
A hard material is
difficult to scratch.
e.g. glass, .. .
noun:
A rigid material does
not bend easily; e.g.
concrete,...
noun:
4. Now ask and answer these questions in pairs:
a) Example: Why does a glass break if you drop it? Because it is brittle.
b) Why doesn't a plastic glass break?
c) Why is butter easy to cut?
d) Why can a diamond cut glass?
e) Why do the branches of a tree bend in the wind?
f) Why don't the walls of a house bend in the wind?
g) What are the different properties of green wood (on a tree) and dry wood?
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5. Now complete these:
Some materials have
a smooth surface;
they produce little
friction when they
are rubbed; e.g.
ice,...
noun:
You can see through
transparent materials;
e.g. water,. …
noun:
Some materials have
a rough surface and
produce a lot of
friction;
e.g. sandpaper, . ..
noun:
You cannot see
through
translucent materials
but the light passes
through them;
e.g. dirty water, . . .
noun:
Soluble materials
dissolve easily; e.g.
salt,…
noun:
You cannot see
through opaque
materials and the light
cannot pass through
them; e.g. metal,. . .
noun:
Materials which are
insoluble do not
dissolve; e.g. glass,...
noun:
Combustible materials
burn easily e.g.
wood,...
noun:
6. Complete the sentences below with appropriate words from exercises 3 and 5
a. The carbonates and phosphates of all metals are _______________ in water but
_______________ in dilute acids.
b. The pale pink colour of quartz, which can range from ______________ to translucent, is
known as rose quartz.
c. Some colloids are ______________ because of the Tyndal effect, which is the scattering of
light by particles in the colloids.
d. _______________ materials are liable to catch fire very easily and burn.
e. _______________ is an important property of steel.
f. This PVC tubing offers excellent wear resistance and rubber-like _________________.
g. A _____________ substance or object is stiff and does not bend, stretch or twist easily.
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7. Some other properties of materials. Form adjectives from these nouns.
Czech translation Noun Adjective
a) pružnost elasticity elastic
b) křehkost fragility
c) tažnost malleability
d) kujnost ductility
e) vodivost conductivity
f) žáruvzdornost heat-resistance
g) zápalnost flammability
h) jedovatost, toxicita toxicity
i) reaktivita reactivity
j) netečnost inertness
k) lehkost lightness
l) těžkost heaviness
m) savost, absorpčnost absorbency
n) viskozita, lepkavost viscosity
o) hustota density
p) trvanlivost, odolnost durability
q) odolnost proti korozi corrosion resistance
r) síla strength
8. Choose the right word in a sentence:
a) A conductive / conductivity material can be used to conduct electricity.
b) If a material is easy to stretch under stress, we call it elastic / elasticity.
c) If you want to improve durable / durability of a machine, clean it regularly.
d) Hard / hardness is an important property of steel.
e) Concrete is used for building because it is strong / strength.
Now choose one noun and one adjective from the table in Exercise 7 and use them in a
sentence. Read the sentences to your neighbour.
9. Speaking:
Work in pairs. One student describes something, using as many adjectives as he or
she can. The second one asks questions. You should guess what it is. You can
describe the colour, size, shape, origin, appearance, use etc. Then swap roles.
a) Describe two materials.
b) Now choose two objects from this room.
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Useful phrases:
The object is slightly
relatively
quite
extremely
very
small
soluble in water
hot
silvery
old
The colour
shape
durability
of the object is blue
circular
high
10. Video: Advanced Materials Safety
Listen and complete the gaps in the summarising sentences:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP2bERhM7d4)
1. Over the past hundred years we have discovered how the arrangement of atoms in
materials influences how those materials _________ .
2. The combination of new knowledge, tools and techniques is enabling scientists to
create _________ that were unimaginable a few years ago.
3. Our knowledge is still quite __________ in some areas.
4. Scientists are creating materials that are lighter, stronger and _________ than before;
materials that generate, bend and _________ light in unusual ways; materials that
_________ sunlight to electricity.
5. Scientists are creating materials that enable faster, more __________ computers.
6. Soon we will see more and more ____________ materials being developed – like
materials that __________ to their surroundings and change their behaviour
accordingly and _________ materials that combine different advanced materials into
super-advanced materials, even materials that _________ the boundaries between
living systems and everything else.
7. Now we are only limited by the laws of physics and our ____________ .
11. GRAMMAR REVISION: tenses
I. Put verbs in brackets into the correct form and tense
Glass 1 _________ (have) many useful properties, but it 2_________ (be) not a tough
material, in fact it 3 _________ (be) very brittle. However, for many years already car
producers 4 __________ (use) specially tough glass, with which they 5 _________ (make) car
windows. Wood is a good building material but it is combustible. In the past people
6__________ (build) mainly wooden houses and now we can observe that this kind of
lodging 7 _________ (become) more and more popular. People like the cosy atmosphere and
the nice smell that such material 8 ___________(produce). Who 9_____________ (know),
maybe in the future, with yet another kind of modern technology we 10 ____________ (be
able) to live in fir but non-combustible cottages?
Adapted from: 1
Jirků, Dana et al. English for Future Engineers. Praha: ČVUT, 2007.