Materials Scientist Career Guide and Counseling

Question: What rules do you think scientist should follow when they develop new materials? All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Learning about atom has enabled scientists to develop many useful materials, such as fabrics that protect us from extreme heat and cold, and semiconductors that run our computers.

Answer: So why should there be rules?

Question: Material scientist (or near enuff) advice needed about certain properties of materials? i need a material mainly for the purpose of insulation yet "breathable" like lets in and out air, while safe for human's longtime exposure to it. i was thnkng mayb foam but not sure if its safe or other properties of it. any ideas of what exact materials fit this description and their properites (or close enuff, noting any disadvantages). Thankyou

Answer: What will you use this for? Well anyway, I immediately thought of fiberglass insulation blanket, same (or similar) to standard fiberglass wall insulation available at any building supply center. It is safe, fire resistant, cheap, good R-value. You would need to add a layer of fabric if it is to touch skin, since it can be very itchy! Of course, there are the obvious: wool, polar-tek, down - the list goes on and on. Hope this helps Bill

Question: Material scientist (or related) advice needed about certain properties of materials? i need a material mainly for the purpose of insulation yet "breathable" like lets in and out air, while safe for human's longtime exposure to it. i was thnkng mayb foam but not sure if its safe or other properties of it. any ideas of what exact materials fit this description and their properites (or close enuff, noting any disadvantages). Thankyou

Answer: Look up 3M Tegaderm foam dressing. Don't know if it's quite what you need but probably a good starting point. As you rightly say, you can't just use any foam.

Question: How would a scientist use a radioactive isotope such as carbon-14 to date materials? A scientist has just found a bone in an ancient glacier. The scientist must now accurately date the bone that is expected to be thousands of years old. Using the isotope carbon-14, how will the scientist dat the bone? (Use words like half-life, isotopes, radioactive decay, nuclides, daughter nuclide, parent nuclide, neutron, and proton in answer please!!) thanks!!

Answer: Knowing the proportion of C14 and C12 in the original sample and knowing the half-life of decay of C14 the time can be found by measuring the current proportions of the two isotopes.

Question: If you were a scientist, what materials would you develop?Why? All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Learning about atom has enabled scientists to develop many useful materials, such as fabrics that protect us from extreme heat and cold, and semiconductors that run our computers.

Answer: Long life rechargeable electricity batteries.

Question: What are some other useful materials that scientists have developed? All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Learning about atom has enabled scientists to develop many useful materials, such as fabrics that protect us from extreme heat and cold, and semiconductors that run our computers.

Answer: first I would think about something not so tough to do, like refining something that occur naturally for isotopes like uranium-235 that brought us nuclear energy. And then, about something more complex, like man made nanometer arrangement like "carbon nanotube", carbon nanotubes are the strongest and stiffest materials on earth, in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus. Carbon nanotubes is more than 100 times stronger than steel.

Question: Some materials that scientists have developed are harmful and dangerous. What are examples of these? All matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms. Learning about atom has enabled scientists to develop many useful materials, such as fabrics that protect us from extreme heat and cold, and semiconductors that run our computers.

Answer: i would say that the manhattan project must be one of the harmful and dangerous scietific discoveries ..... nucleur fission. Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into parts (lighter nuclei) often producing photons (in the form of gamma rays), free neutrons and other subatomic particles as by-products. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place). the first fission bombs where thousands of times more explosive than the same mass of chemical bomb. Development of nuclear weapons was the motivation behind early research into nuclear fission: the Manhattan Project of the U.S. military during World War II carried out most of the early scientific work on fission chain reactions, culminating in the Little Boy and Fat Man and Trinity bombs that were exploded over test sites, the cities Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, Japan in August of 1945.

Question: How great is the demand for materials science/engineering? Are materials scientists and engineers in relatively high demand compared to say, electric or mechanical engineers?

Answer: Absolutely. Right now there are extremely few materials engineers around (think baby boomer retirements and it's not a popular discipline) and that means college grads are being hired for positions that were being held for more experienced engineers. Also, ALOT of materials labs are being run by civil engineers (I've worked for two) and mistakes are piling up to the point where the demand for materials engineers is becoming desperate, and they are being paid REALLY well, compared to civil or mechanical.

Question: What are the materials needed for a first time scientist (biologist)?

Answer: Thirst of knowledge. Ability to grasp any ideas. Eye for miniscule details. Openness of mind. Questioning everything under the sun (reasoning ability).

Question: Give me a website about scientist who have changed the history by inventing electronic materials?

Answer: Look up an old Wizard named Tesla! Your teacher will be proud of you, and you will have a great time learning a lot of cool stuff! http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/index.html