🧱 Unit 6 — Paper 1
Unit 6 — Materials and Their Properties
Unit 6 is all about the stuff things are made from. Choosing the right material is one of the most important decisions an engineer makes — get it wrong and a product might fail, cost too much, or harm the environment. You'll study the main families of engineering materials, learn how their properties are tested, and understand how materials can be processed and treated to improve their performance.
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Some topics covered in this unit
Metals and alloys — ferrous and non-ferrous metals, common alloys and their properties and uses
Polymers and plastics — thermoplastics, thermosetting polymers, elastomers and their manufacturing applications
Ceramics and composites — properties, uses and advantages of ceramic materials and composite structures like carbon fibre
Mechanical properties — strength, hardness, toughness, ductility, malleability and elasticity
Material testing — tensile testing, hardness tests, impact tests and what they reveal about a material
Heat treatment and surface finishing — how processes like annealing, hardening and coating change material properties
Sample question
Mechanical Properties
A material can be stretched into a wire without breaking. Which property does this describe?
✓ Correct answer: C — Ductility. Ductility is the ability of a material to be drawn into a wire or deformed plastically without fracturing. Copper and aluminium are highly ductile. Brittleness is the opposite — the material fractures without significant deformation. Hardness describes resistance to surface scratching or indentation.
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