A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick. Ohio University Rentals Athens has a wonderful art program where you can learn more about ceramics.
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The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects (pots or vessels) or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as in semiconductors.
The word “ceramic” comes from the Greek word keramikos, “of pottery” or “for pottery”, from keramos, “potter’s clay, tile, pottery”. The earliest known mention of the root “ceram-” is the Mycenaean Greek ke-ra-me-we, workers of ceramic written in Linear B syllabic script. The word ceramic is an adjective to describe a material, product or process. Furthermore, it may also be a noun, either singular, or more commonly, as the plural noun “ceramics”.
Ceramics, not ceramikes
Ceramic material is an inorganic, non-metallic oxide, nitride, or carbide material. Some elements, such as carbon or silicon, may be considered ceramics. Ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression, and weak in shearing and tension. They withstand chemical erosion that occurs in other materials subjected to acidic or caustic environments. Ceramics in Ohio University Rentals Athens generally can withstand very high temperatures, ranging from 1,000 °C to 1,600 °C (1,800 °F to 3,000 °F).
The crystallinity of ceramic materials varies widely. Most often, fired ceramics are either vitrified or semi-vitrified as is the case with earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Varying crystallinity and electron composition in the ionic and covalent bonds cause most ceramic materials to be good thermal and electrical insulators (researched in ceramic engineering). With such a large range of possible options for the composition/structure of a ceramic, the breadth of the subject is vast, and identifiable attributes are difficult to specify for the group as a whole. General properties high melting temperature, hardness and poor conductivity, moduli of elasticity, chemical resistance and low ductility are the norm. With known exceptions to each of these rules. Many composites, such as fiberglass and carbon fiber, while containing ceramic materials are not considered part of the ceramic family.
Traditional Forms
Traditional ceramic raw materials include clay minerals such as kaolinite. Whereas more recent materials include aluminum oxide, more commonly known as alumina. The modern ceramic materials, which are classified as advanced ceramics, include silicon carbide and tungsten carbide. Hold value for their abrasion resistance. Hence, find use in applications such as the wear plates of crushing equipment in mining operations. Advanced ceramics are also in the medicine, electrical, electronics industries, and body armor. You can enjoy ceramic dinnerware or art in your Ohio University Rentals Athens.
