Starter quiz
- Smart materials ...
- are expensive.
- can respond to changes around them. ✓
- can only be used once.
- are always colourful.
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- Which of these might a smart material respond to?
- heat
- light
- pressure
- all of the above ✓
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- What is an example of a product that might use a smart material?
- a plastic bag
- a wooden chair
- sunglasses that change shade in sunlight ✓
- a wool sweater
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- Why are smart materials useful?
- they can improve product performance ✓
- they are always cheap to produce
- they don’t need any aesthetic design
- they don’t wear out
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These glasses have turned into sunglasses. Which stimulus have they responded to?- heat
- pressure
- electricity
- sunlight ✓
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What happens when this spoon is placed in hot water?- 'changes colour' ✓
Exit quiz
- Sort the physical/working properties and stimuli:
- temperature⇔stimuli ✓
- colour⇔physical properties ✓
- electrical conductivity⇔working properties ✓
- pressure⇔stimuli ✓
- moisture⇔stimuli ✓
- opacity⇔physical properties ✓
- Match the smart material to the stimuli that it responds to:
- hydrochromic⇔water/mositure ✓
- photochromic⇔sunlight ✓
- thermochromic⇔heat ✓
- shape memory alloy⇔heat ✓
- piezoelectric⇔pressure ✓
- bioconcrete⇔water/moisture ✓
- Glasses (for vision) that are accidentally sat on, pop back to their original shape. Which smart material is this an example of?
- thermochromic
- hydrochromic
- piezoelectric
- shape memory alloy ✓
- bioconcrete
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- Identify the products that use smart materials to improve their function:
- stents ✓
- novelty umbrellas
- colour changing baby spoons ✓
- glasses that lenses change to sunglasses ✓
- colour changing bandages that show if a wound has become infected ✓
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Some nappies use a smart material to identify that the nappy needs changing. Which smart material is this an example of?- photochromic
- thermochromic
- polymorph
- hydrochromic ✓
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- This smart material uses bacteria that react with water to 'heal' itself by producing limestone to fill any micro cracks that appear. Which smart material is it?
- polymorph
- hydrochromic
- bioconcrete ✓
- shape memory alloy
- photochromic
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Worksheet
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Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Smart materials react to a stimuli.
- Stimuli can be environmental such as light, temperature, humidity, or when manipulated or put under pressure.
- Smart materials react by changing colour, shape or conductivity.
Common misconception
Smart materials are only for fun products like colour changing mugs!
Smart materials give designers and engineers exciting possibilities when developing new products. Possibilities often focus on function and/or form. For example, thermochromic materials can be used to indicate a temperature and warn users of danger.
Keywords
Stimulus/stimuli - (singular/plural) something that encourages activity or change
Physical property - the characteristics of a material, such as appearance and features
Working property - the way in which a material responds to an external force or certain environment; also referred to as mechanical properties
Function - the purpose of the product
Form - a particular shape, linked to aesthetics
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