ECE Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Boron Carbide, Nonmetal, Unit
Document Summary
A ceramic has traditionally been defined as an inorganic, nonmetallic solid that is prepared from powdered materials, is fabricated into products through the application of heat, and displays such characteristic properties as hardness, strength, low electrical conductivity, and brittleness. " The word ceramic comes the from greek word "keramikos", which means "pottery. " They are typically crystalline in nature and are compounds formed between metallic and nonmetallic elements such as aluminum and oxygen (alumina-al2o3), calcium and oxygen (calcia - cao), and silicon and nitrogen (silicon nitride-si3n4). Ceramics are a little more complex than metallic structures, which is why metals were covered first. A ceramic has traditionally been defined as an inorganic, nonmetallic solid that is prepared from powdered materials and is fabricated into products through the application of heat. Most ceramics are made up of two or more elements. For example, alumina (al2o3) is a compound made up of aluminum atoms and oxygen atoms.
