What are the main categories of material, and what physical and working properties make each suitable for a job?
The categories of materials including papers and boards, timbers, metals, polymers and textiles, and the physical and mechanical properties that make a material suitable for a particular use.
A focused answer to AQA GCSE Design and Technology core principle on materials, covering the categories of papers and boards, timbers, metals, polymers and textiles, and the physical and mechanical properties that decide their use.
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What this dot point is asking
This is AQA section 3.1.6. AQA wants you to know the main categories of material and the properties that make each suitable for a job. You need to recognise papers and boards, timbers, metals, polymers and textiles, give examples of each, and use the correct property words to explain why a material is chosen. In Paper 1 this is examined as recall (naming categories and examples) and as Explain questions that ask you to justify a material against a product's demands.
The main material categories
Examples to know
- Papers and boards (weights are measured in grams per square metre, gsm): cartridge paper for drawing, corrugated card for packaging, foam board and solid white board for modelling, and duplex board for food cartons.
- Timbers: oak, beech, mahogany and balsa (hardwoods, from broad-leaved deciduous trees), pine and cedar (softwoods, from fast-growing coniferous trees), and MDF, plywood and chipboard (manufactured boards made from wood fibres or veneers and an adhesive).
- Metals: mild steel and cast iron (ferrous, containing iron and prone to rust), aluminium, copper, brass and tin (non-ferrous, no iron, more corrosion-resistant), plus alloys such as stainless steel and brass that mix metals for better properties.
- Polymers: acrylic (PMMA), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), PET and polypropylene (thermoforming, can be reheated and reshaped), epoxy resin, urea formaldehyde and melamine (thermosetting, set permanently).
- Textiles: cotton, wool and silk (natural, from plants or animals) and polyester, nylon and elastane (synthetic, made from polymers), with blends such as polycotton combining the best of each.
Physical and mechanical properties
The mechanical properties are the ones examiners most often test, so each must be precise. Tensile strength resists pulling, compressive strength resists squashing. Hardness resists scratching and surface wear (a chisel edge must be hard). Toughness is the ability to absorb impact and shock without cracking (a hammer handle must be tough). A brittle material is the opposite of tough and snaps with little warning (cast iron, acrylic). Ductility means a material can be drawn out into a wire (copper); malleability means it can be hammered or rolled into a new shape without cracking (gold, aluminium). Elasticity lets a material return to shape after a force is removed, while plasticity means it keeps the new shape.
A material is chosen by matching its properties to the demands of the product: a hard, tough alloy steel for a chisel blade; a low-density, corrosion-resistant aluminium for an aircraft panel; an absorbent, low-cost board for packaging; an elastic synthetic fibre for sportswear. The skill examiners reward is naming the property and then justifying it against the product's job.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20194 marksDescribe the difference between a thermoforming polymer and a thermosetting polymer, and give one named example of each.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Describe wants two contrasts plus two examples. Markers split the marks across behaviour and examples.
A thermoforming (thermoplastic) polymer softens when heated and can be reshaped, then hardens on cooling, and this can be repeated many times because the long polymer chains are only tangled, not chemically locked. This makes thermoforming polymers recyclable. Examples are acrylic (PMMA), high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and PET.
A thermosetting polymer undergoes a chemical change (cross-linking) the first time it is heated and set, forming permanent bonds between chains, so it cannot be re-melted or reshaped and resists heat once cured. Examples are epoxy resin, urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde.
Markers reward (1) thermoforming can be reheated and reshaped, (2) thermosetting sets permanently and cannot be remelted, (3) a valid example of each. A frequent error is naming the same polymer for both groups.
AQA 20213 marksExplain why toughness, rather than hardness, is the most important mechanical property for the handle of a claw hammer.Show worked answer →
A 3-mark Explain rewards linked reasoning about the property and the use.
A hammer handle is subjected to repeated impact and shock loading every time the head strikes. Toughness is the ability to absorb energy and resist sudden impact without cracking or shattering, so a tough handle (such as ash timber or a glass-reinforced polymer) flexes slightly and survives the blows. Hardness only resists scratching and surface wear, which is not the failure mode of a handle, and a very hard but brittle material would crack under shock.
Markers reward (1) defining toughness as resisting impact or absorbing energy, (2) linking it to the repeated shock loading of hammering, (3) noting that a hard but brittle material would fail. Confusing toughness with strength or hardness loses the central mark.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA GCSE Design and Technology (8552) specification — AQA (2017)