MatSE280 Exams: Format and Focus
In preparing for the first exam in MatSE 280, the goals in an exam are to
test that which you have learned and how you can apply it, including
general knowledge (metals, ceramics, polymers, etc.), materials behavior
(specific or comparative), and specific application of that knowledge via
numerical results.
Principally, homework questions and examples used and discussed in
class and the text will be source of exam questions. Not necessarily exactly
identical, but similar, such that application of same concepts, arguments and
formulae yield correct answers.
So, as a focus, I encourage you to
(1) study Homework questions and answers, especially to apply what you
learned to similar problems given similar information.
(2) go over and understand, and be able to answer, examples (and related
questions) used in class, including web-based self-assessment questions.
Examples from Homework include:
• Identifying different materials properties (stiffness, E; thermal expansion, α;
melting, Tm) based on inter-atomic bonding curves. How does varying
charges change properties, such as melting temperature or Young’s
modulus?
• Molecules and polymers relative melting temperatures or crystallization
behavior. Why or why they cannot crystallize?
• Determining arrangements of cations and anions based on ionic radii, for
example.
• Identifying crystal structures (e.g., body-centered orthorhombic) and number
of atoms per unit cell. What is a lattice, primitive cell, and crystal structure?
• What type of defects are allowed or what is their name and how do they affect
properties? Can certain atoms fit in interstitial sites and how would they affect
properties?
Example Exam 1 – indicating type of questions and length, from previous
exams, is below.
