List of materials properties

This is a list of materials properties. A materials property is an intensive, often quantitative property of a material, usually with a unit that may be used as a metric of value to compare the benefits of one material versus another to aid in materials selection.

A material property may be a constant or may be a function of one or more independent variables, such as temperature. Materials properties often vary to some degree according to the direction in the material in which they are measured; a condition referred to as anisotropy. Materials properties that relate two different physical phenomena often behave linearly or approximately so in a given operating range and may then be modelled as a constant for that range. This linearization can significantly simplify the differential constitutive equations that the property describes.

Some materials properties are used in relevant equations to determine the attributes of a system a priori. For example, if a material of a known specific heat gains or loses a known amount of heat, the temperature change of that material can be determined. Materials properties may be determined by standardized test methods. Many such test methods have been documented by their respective user communities and published through ASTM International.

Additional recommended knowledge

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Don't let static charges disrupt your weighing accuracy

What is the Correct Way to Check Repeatability in Balances?

Mechanical properties

• Young's modulus
• Specific modulus
• Tensile strength
• Compressive strength
• Shear strength
• Yield strength
• Ductility
• Malleability
• Strain at failure
• Strain hardening index
• Hardness
• Toughness
• Impact toughness
• Poisson's ratio
• Hardenability (of metals)
• Weldability (of metals and thermoplastics)
• Fatigue limit
• Density
• Viscosity
• Permeability (of fluid in a solid)
• Porosity
• Explosive velocity
• Melt flow index
• Piezoelectric constants

Electrical properties

• Electrical conductivity
• Permittivity
• Dielectric constant
• Dielectric strength
• Piezoelectric constants
• Seebeck coefficient

Thermal properties

• Thermal conductivity
• Thermal diffusivity
• Emissivity
• Coefficient of thermal expansion
• Specific heat
• Heat of vaporization
• Heat of fusion
• Pyrophoricity
• Flammability
• Phase diagram
• Vapor Pressure
• Autoignition temperature
• Critical temperature
• Glass transition temperature
• Melting point
• Boiling point
• Triple point
• Flash point
• Binary phase diagram
• Eutectic point
• Seebeck coefficient
• Curie Point

Chemical properties

• pH
• Hydrophobicity
• Hygroscopy
• Surface energy
• Specific internal surface area
• Reactivity
• Corrosion resistance
• Concentration

Magnetic properties

• Permeability
• Hysteresis
• Curie Point

Optical properties

• Absorptivity
• Reflectivity
• Refractive index
• Color
• Photosensitivity
• Transmittance
• Luminosity

Acoustical properties

• Acoustical absorption
• Speed of sound

Radiological properties

• Neutron cross-section
• Specific activity

Biological properties

• Toxicity

Environmental properties

• Embodied energy
• Embodied CO2 (or other global warming gases)
• Embodied water
• RoHS compliance

There are a variety of other properties to consider in an environmental impact assessment that effect the ecological or human environment that may be difficult to quantify (unlike most of the properties listed on this page) including pollution (extraction, transportation, manufacture), scarcity/abundance, habitat destruction, renewability, recycleability, wars fought over materials, labor exploitation, etc. These can be subjective, dependent on context, or inadequately measured.

Atomic properties

Applies to pure elements only

• Atomic number
• Atomic weight

Manufacturing properties

• Machining speeds and feeds
• Machinability rating
• Hardness
• Extruding temperature and pressure

See also

• Chemical property
• Physical property
• Thermodynamic properties
• Supervenience