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1 IMPORTANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF

PROPERTIES OF AB MATERIALS
This course deals with the various engineering properties of AB
materials such as physical, electrical, mechanical, rheological,
thermal and optical. Background on these properties is
necessary in the design, management and operation of
agricultural equipment employed in the pre and postharvest
processes. The basic knowledge on these properties are of great
importance for agricultural and biosystems engineers towards
efficient process and equipment development. Among the main
goals of this course are to identify engineering properties of
agricultural and food materials, explain related measurement
methods, and relate engineering properties of agricultural and
food materials to process design and quality control.
ABE 106 is consists of 36 hours lecture and 54 lab hours
covering the basic knowledge of the engineering properties of
AB materials commonly encountered during the pre and
postharvest handling, marketing and processing
Properties of materials – introduction
 Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. A useful way to start thinking about matter is to think about the different
materials, or substances, that it can be made into.

Substances have physical and chemical properties

selection of images demonstrating various properties of matter

 These materials make up the objects around us, and each of these materials has different properties or characteristics that can be
observed or tested. Scientists, technologists and engineers investigate these materials – they experiment with them, compare
their properties and relate the results to possible uses.
Types of materials

 There are many different types of materials. Some examples of everyday materials are plastics,
metals, fabric and glass.
 Find out more about plastic products in the article Plastics and recycling.
 Find out more about metals and what happens when they mix in the article 
Metals, alloys and metal compounds.
 Ceramic materials are used to make traditional pottery, right through to 
advanced ceramics used in engineering and medicine. These inventions require scientists to
understand the properties of minerals. You can learn more in the article What are minerals?
 Wool is another traditional material that has undergone innovation. Investigate the properties of
wool and how they link to its uses in the student activity Exploring wool fibre properties.
 Some other fascinating, less well known materials include nanofibres, biological materials and 
composites.
Examples of properties

 When we refer to the properties of a material, we are talking about features we can sense,
measure or test. For example, if we have a sample of metal in front of us, we can identify
that this material is grey, hard and shiny. Testing shows that this material is able to
conduct heat and electricity and that it will react with an acid. These are some of the
metal’s properties.

Zinc
Zinc is a chemical element found in the Earth’s crust.
 It is important to decide if you are investigating the properties of a material or of an object.
For example, are you identifying the properties of a spoon (an object), or are you looking
at properties of the material it is made of, for example, stainless steel? Properties like
shape and mass may be different for different objects, even when they are made of the
same material. Density is a useful property for making comparisons between different
materials.

Spoon
This spoon is made from stainless steel. This material was
selected based on its physical and chemical properties.
 Use this activity to learn more about density.
 Other properties of materials can include their viscosity and conductivity.
 A commonly talked about property is the state or phase of matter. There are currently five
different states of matter that have been identified: solids, liquids, gases, plasma and Bose-
Einstein condensate. The last two of these are much less well known.
 It is important to note that the state of matter refers to the positioning and movement of the
particles that make up a material and not the material itself.
 You can learn more about states of matter in the article States of matter.
Physical versus chemical

 Sometimes it can be useful to distinguish between different types of properties. Physical

properties refer to properties that can be observed or measured without changing the
composition of the material. Examples include colour, hardness and smell and freezing,
melting and boiling points.
 Chemical properties are discovered by observing chemical reactions. They
include combustion point, reactivity with acids and toxicity.
Changing material properties

 Processes such as mixing, heating and cooling can change materials and their properties.
This can be useful as the new properties may be better suited for particular purposes. For
example, mixing certain metals can create a material that is both strong and lightweight.

Titanium – sponge and alloy

Titanium sponge is produced by the Kroll Process from the
main ore of titanium called rutile. The sponge form undergoes
further processing into alloy rod.
 Related content
 Wanting to explore more chemistry ideas and chemistry in a variety of different contexts?
Take a look at the wide range of content we have on the Hub, including the 
properties of matter and atoms and molecules concepts.
 Check out our related resources about mixtures, recycling, melting and fire, or visit our
context-based chemistry articles looking at elements, limestone, plasma and 
digestion chemistry.
 We also have two recorded teacher PLD webinars: 
Chemistry made simple – properties of matter and Chemistry made simple –atoms.
PREPARED BY:
ANTONETTE O. BALANSAG
COURSE&YEAR:
BSABE-3
SUBJECT CODE:
ABE-313-PROPERTIES OF AB MATERIALS

THANK YOU AND GODBLESS!!!