We use materials in a variety of ways in everyday life. One of the most common ways is to use them to help us construct buildings and structures. The materials that civil engineers use have to resist the effects of the ever changing climate.
In the past man made use of natural materials such as wood, and stone to construct buildings such as stonehenge.
The Eiffel Tower was built from iron and steel in 1889, and was the first building to have a metal skeleton to provide it with strength.
Modern skyscrapers now use steel frames to reinforce their structure.
Aluminium is corrosion resistant and so is used to make roofing and window frames. Reinforced concrete is used to provide structures with additional strength.
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Tower Building
You will need:
10 pieces of paper
10 straws
1 metre of string
1 metre of sellotape
Try building a tall free-standing tower using these materials that is strong enough to hold a small beaker full of water.
Think about how you can use the string and the straws to strengthen your building.
What shape will work best for your tower?
Try looking in architecture and physics texts and find out how modern buildings are constructed.
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The centre piece of the Challenge of Materials Gallery is the bridge. It is constructed of annealed strips of glass, suspended from steel cables. The designers of the bridge took their inspiration from natural structures such as spiders webs.
In the past bridges have been made from wood, stone, and iron. Most modern bridges are made from steel and concrete.
We also make use of materials in the home, such as in the bathroom, and kitchen.
Materials can also be used to protect our bodies from the effects of the weather, and to protect us during hazardous activities such as motor cycling, horse riding, and parachuting.
