IMPORTANT PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS AND ITS VALUES

1. BULK DENSITY: Mass / volume. Unit - kg/m3

Brick 16001800
Granite 25002700
Sand 14501650
Pine wood 500600
Steel 7850
2. DENSITY INDEX: Bulk density/density. Always < 1

3. SPECIFIC WEIGHT: Weight/volume - Unit kN/m3.

4. SPECIFIC GRAVITY: Wt of solids/wt of water or Mass of solids/ mass of water. AT 4C.

5. HYGROSCOPICITY: To absorb water from air.

6. STRENGTH: Ability of the material to resist failure under the action of stresses caused by loads,
the most common being compression, tension, bending and impact.

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 7. Hardness: Ability of a material to resist penetration by a harder body. Mohs scale is used to find
the hardness of materials.

Talc, easily scratched with the thumb-nail :1

Gypsum, scratched by the thumb-nail :2
Calcite, not scratched by thumb-nail but easily cut by knife :3
Fluorite, can be cut by knife with greater difficulty than calcite : 4
Apatite, can be cut only with difficulty by knife :5
Orthoclase, can be cut with knife with great difficulty on thin edges: 6
Quartz, not scratched by steel, scratches glass :7
Topaz :8
Sapphire :9
Diamond : 10

8. ELASTICITY: Ability of a material to restore its initial form and dimensions after the load is
removed.

9. PLASTICITY: Ability of a material to change its shape under load without cracking and to retain
this shape after the load is removed.

Some of the examples of plastic materials are steel, copper and hot bitumen.

10. MALLEABILITY: Physical property of metals that defines the ability to be hammered, pressed or
rolled into thin sheets without breaking or tearing. It is the property of a metal to deform under
compression.
Ex. gold, silver, iron, aluminum, copper and tin.
11. DUCTLITY: ability to deform under tensile stress. Ductile materials undergo plastic deformation
before fracture.
Ex: Platinum, aluminum, copper, steel, polyethylene, nylon.

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 12. Materials that fracture without any plastic deformation are called brittle materials.
Examples include glass and most other ceramic materials.
13. DURABILITY: Ability of a material to resist the combined effects of atmospheric and other
factors.
14. HEAT CONDUCTIVITY: Ability of a material to conduct heat.
15. THERMAL CAPACITY: property of a material to absorb heat described by its specific heat.

Thank you.

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