TABLE OF CONTENTS All materials have properties which must be known in order to promote their proper use. Knowing these properties is also essential to selecting the best material for a given application. This chapter includes general properties widely used in the field of chemical, mechanical, civil, and electrical engineering.
Note that results are given in SI units. Use Table 1.5 of Chap. 1 to obtain results in USGS units.
Every elementary substance is made up of atoms which are all alike and which cannot be further subdivided or broken up by chemical processes. There are as many different classes or families of atoms as there are chemical elements (Table 2.1).
| Element | Symbol | Atomic No. | Atomic weight [b] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actinium | Ac | 89 | |
| Aluminum | Al | 13 | 26.9815 |
| Americium | Am | 95 | |
| Antimony | Sb | 51 | 121.75 |
| Argon [c] | Ar | 18 | 39.948 |
| Arsenic [d] | As | 33 | 74.9216 |
| Astatine | At | 85 | |
| Barium | Ba | 56 | 137.34 |
| Berkelium | Bk | 97 | |
| Beryllium | Be | 4 | 9.0122 |
| Bismuth | Bi | 83 | 208.980 |
| Boron [d] | B | 5 | 10.811 [l] |
| Bromine [e] | Br | 35 | 79.904 [m] |
| Cadmium | Cd | 48 | 112.40 |
| Calcium | Ca | 20 | 40.08 |
| Californium | Cf | 98 | |
| Carbon [d] | C | 6 | 12.01115 [l] |
| Cerium | Ce | 58 | 140.12 |
| Cesium [k] | Ca | 55 | 132.905 |
| Chlorine [f] | Cl | 17 | 35.453 [m] |
| Chromium | Cr | 24 | 51.996 [m] |
| Cobalt | Co | 27 | 58.9332 |
| Columbium (see Niobium) | |||
| Copper | Cu | 29 | 63.546 [m] |
| Curium | Cm | 96 | |
| Dysprosium | Dy | 66 | 162.50 |
| Einsteinium | Es | 99 | |
| Erbium | Er | 68 | 167.26 |
