Ceramics are all around us.  This category of materials includes things like tile, bricks, plates, glass, and toilets.  Ceramics can be found in products like watches (quartz tuning forks-the time keeping devices in watches), snow skies (piezoelectric-ceramics that stress when a voltage is applied to them), automobiles (sparkplugs and ceramic engine parts found in racecars), and phone lines.  They can also be found on space shuttles, appliances (enamel coatings), and airplanes (nose cones).  

Depending on their method of formation, ceramics can be dense or lightweight.  Typically, they will demonstrate excellent strength and hardness properties; however, they are often brittle in nature.  Ceramics can also be formed to serve as electrically conductive materials, objects allowing electricity to pass through their mass, or insulators, materials preventing the flow of electricity.  Some ceramics, like superconductors, also display magnetic properties.

Ceramics are generally made by taking mixtures of clay, earthen elements, powders, and water and shaping them into desired forms.  Once the ceramic has been shaped, it is fired in a high temperature oven known as a kiln.  Often, ceramics are covered in decorative, waterproof, paint-like substances known as glazes.

Types of ceramic materials

Ceramics are omnipresent from our kitchen pantries to tool closets. They go far beyond the simple use of a ceramic vessel or sculpture and are applied in everything from science to mechanical engineering.

Tile

Ceramic and porcelain are two common types of tiles. Ceramic tile is made from a combination of silica, minerals, and clay that is shaped and fired in a kiln. Ceramic tiles use a mix of coarser clay with a smaller ratio of kaolin clay and are fired at lower temperatures as compared to porcelain—generally no higher than 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit.

Glass

Ceramic glass is a mechanically strong and versatile material. It can sustain vast temperature changes and is not porous, making it an ideal material for common cooktops and cookware. Less common manufactured glass ceramic goods include engineering components, insulation, and telescopic mirrors.

Brick

Bricks are produced by mixing clay with water, shaping and forming the brick, then drying and firing. Bricks are common building materials for walls, chimneys, fireplaces, and more.

Silicon

Silicon are abundant natural materials and are commonly found in ceramic materials, from bricks to glass ceramic to porcelain.