MATS 100 - Materials in the Service of Society
This course has been designed to introduce people with limited mathematical
and science background to many of the fundamental ideas of the "hard
sciences" through the use of ordinary materials such as iron, copper,
nylon, glass, etc. Materials are tangible entities whose macroscopic properties
are more or less familiar to most people and therefore can serve as a bridge
between the macroscopic world and the microscopic world of atoms, molecules,
electrons, protons, and energy. Questions such as why are diamonds hard
and high melting, how does a photo voltaic cell work, what is a ceramic,
what is a composite, why is copper a conductor of electricity and quartz
an insulator, will be answered.
OBJECTIVES OF MATS 100
- To give people with limited scientific background an understanding of
how a material's macroscopic properties, such as its ability to conduct
electricity, its ductility, its ability to conduct heat, or its hardness
arise from its microscopic structure. The material's microscopic structure
is the arrangement of its atoms, molecules, or ions and the forces between
them.
- To develop an understanding of the historical significance of materials;
how materials affected the way we lived in the past and the way we live
today. For example, it is entirely possible that mankind's first invention
was a shopping bag of some sort made from woven reeds or grass which enabled
our hunter-gatherer ancestors to collect things and transport them from
place to place. How did the Iron Age evolve from the Bronze Age and for
that matter, why did bronze replace stone as the principal material?
- To develop an understanding of scientific methodology and how it applies
to the development of various materials as well as to the evolution of the
principal ideas of science such as atomic structure, quantum theory, and
band theory of solids.
- To learn some fundamental scientific vocabulary (entropy, semiconductor,
insulator, transistor, photon, phase, etc.) because for many of the people
in the course, this will be their first introduction to science at the post
secondary school level.
- To learn something of the economics of materials and the competition among
different materials used for the same purpose. For example, iron replaced
bronze originally because it was cheaper, not better. A general could equip
his army with twenty iron swords for the price of five bronze swords. Is
wood siding, aluminum siding, or vinyl siding better for private homes?
What does "better" mean in this context?
- To give students an appreciation of the importance (relevance) of different
materials to various aspects of their lives.
BACKGROUND REQUIREMENTS
Elementary algebra and a smattering of logarithms are required because many
properties of materials are exponential functions of the temperature.
WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE
Any non-science major who needs a science course or who is interested in
materials should take this course. Also, people who are not scientists
or engineers and currently work in the materials industry would greatly
benefit from this MATS 100.