Material: the Material Basis for the Advancement of Human Society

Material is the material basis for the advancement of human society, the symbol of human progress, the substances that people use to make goods, instruments, machinery or other things, and a large class of substances. Not all substances can be called materials, such as fuel, chemical raw materials, industrial chemicals, food, medicine, etc., generally. Not material. Material is always closely related to a certain purpose. Material can be made up of one or several substances, and the same substance can be used for different purposes and properties due to different processing and manufacturing methods.

Classification of materials

Material is the material basis for human survival and development, which is closely related to economic development, national defense construction and people's living standards. In the 1970s, information, materials and energy were called the three pillars of contemporary civilization. In the 1980s, the new technology revolution represented by high technology, and the reputation of new materials, information technology and biotechnology was also called the symbol and vane of the new technology revolution.

In addition to its importance and universality, materials also have diversity. Because of the diversity of species, there is no unified classification standard. According to the different physical and chemical properties of materials, they can be divided into metal materials, inorganic non-metallic materials, organic polymer materials and composite materials composed of different types of materials. According to the use of materials, they can be divided into electronic materials, aerospace materials, nuclear materials, building materials, energy materials, biological materials and so on. More commonly, materials are classified into structural materials and functional materials, traditional materials and high-tech materials.

Structural material is a kind of material which is based on mechanical properties and is used to manufacture stressed structural parts. Functional materials are mainly a kind of materials formed by the unique physical, chemical or biological properties of materials. A kind of material is often both structural material and functional material, such as iron, copper, aluminum, magnesium and so on. Structural materials also have certain requirements on physical and chemical properties, such as gloss, thermal conductivity, radiation resistance, corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, etc.

Functional materials can be divided into inorganic functional materials and organic functional materials and composite functional materials. The first two types can also be divided into magnetic functional materials, electrical functional materials, thermal functional materials, force functional materials, chemical functional materials and optical functional materials. Composite functional materials can be divided into polymer, metal and ceramic composite materials.

Traditional materials refer to mature and commercially available materials, such as steel, cement, plastics, etc. This kind of material is also called basic material because of its large consumption, high output value, wide range of coverage, and it is also the foundation of many pillar industries. New (advanced) materials refer to those materials which have excellent properties and broad application prospects and are developing. There is no clear boundary between traditional materials and new materials. New technology can improve the performance of traditional materials and add value to them. New materials become new materials when they are mature and mass produced in industry and applied in large quantities. Traditional materials are the basis for the development of new materials, and new materials can often promote the further development of traditional materials.

The Important Stage of Material Development and Evolution

As you know, the development and evolution of human society can be divided into several stages: the Paleolithic Age; the Neolithic Age from 1 million to 10,000 years ago; the Bronze Age from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago; and the Iron Age from the 9th to the late Western Zhou Dynasty from 3,000 years ago. In fact, the history of human evolution from ape man to modern man and from written man to civilized man is a history of material and technology evolution. China is an ancient civilization that has been handed down for 5000 years. It also has brilliant splendor in the development and application of materials. From the ancient Silk Road to today's "one belt and one road", it is the witness of the Chinese nation's discovery and development of silk material and its products to the world. Legend has it that about 5000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor invented silk raising. Earlier than silk, pottery was produced in prehistoric culture and gradually developed into a world-famous Chinese ceramic culture. China's bronze culture is also well known. It is said that Chiyou once made bronze swords.

There is a close relationship between human reproduction and growth, material technology progress and human civilization development, from the use of natural stones, through copper-making and iron-making, to the production of alloy materials, semiconductor materials and macromolecule materials; from the use of hands, bone tools, pottery, to the use of steam engines, computers and so on; and from knowledge to knowledge. All kinds of intuitive knowledge have developed into various disciplines of natural science and social science.

Throughout the history of human discovery and use of materials, the discovery and widespread use of each important material has elevated the human ability to dominate and transform nature to a new level, brought about tremendous changes in social productive capacity and people's living standards, and pushed forward human material and spiritual civilization by a big step. A new era. For example, 2/3 of the improvement of aircraft performance depends on materials.

In the early Western Han Dynasty (mid-2nd century B.C.), China invented the pig iron steelmaking technology - stir-frying technology. Stir-fried steel is the germination of two-step steelmaking and an epoch-making significant invention. In the mid-18th century, the British invented the stir-frying method, which played a great role in the industrial revolution. Marx gave a high appraisal, saying that no matter how much praise it would not exaggerate the significance of this innovation.

Because of cast iron and raw material