Material
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Material (disambiguation).
Materials are physical substances used as inputs to production or manufacturing. Raw materials are first extracted or harvested from the earth and divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored, then processed to produce "semi-finished materials". These can be input into a new cycle of production and "finishing processes to create "finished materials", ready for distribution and consumption.
An example of a raw material is cotton, which can be processed into thread, and then processed into cloth, a semi-finished material. Sewing and cutting the fabric turns it into a garment, which is a finished material. Steelmaking is another example—raw materials are extracted, refined and processed into steel, a semi-finished material. Steel is then used as an input in many other industries to make finished products.
[edit] See also
- Biomaterial
- Commodity
- Feedstock
- History of science and technology
- List of building materials
- Materials science
- Materiel
- Natural resource
- Post-industrial society
- Technologyca:Material
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