Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

States of Materials: Descriptors and Concepts

In course

MSE-100: Introduction to materials science

This course relates the structural elements of materials to their mechanical, thermal, electric, magnetic, and optical properties. Hands-on laboratories and team projects offer insight into the profession of materials engineers. ...

Description

This lecture covers the different states of materials, including solid, liquid, and glassy states, focusing on descriptors between atoms and the concept of free space. The instructor introduces the concept of g(r) and discusses mirror planes and inversion centers.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructors (2)

Francesco Stellacci

Francesco Stellacci graduated in Materials Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano in 1998 with a thesis on photochromic polymers with Prof. Giuseppe Zerbi and Mariacarla Gallazzi. In 1999 he moved to the Chemistry Department of the University of Arizona for as a post-doc in the group of Joe Perry in close collaboration with the group of Seth Marder. In 2002 he moved to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor. He was then promoted to associate without (2006) and with tenure (2009). In 2010 he moved to the Institute of Materials at EPFL as a full Professor. He holds the Alcan EP Chair. Francesco was one of the recipients of the Technology Review TR35 "35 Innovator under 35" award in 2005, and the Popular Science Magazine "Brilliant 10" award in 2007. He has been a Packard Fellow starting 2005.

Pierre-Etienne Bourban

Background 1990 Ingénieur en science des matériaux 1993 PhD in materials science Activities 1993-1994 Research at the Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, USA (ccm.udel.edu), SNSF grant Since 1994 Research and teaching at EPFL, Composites, (LTC, LPAC) 1995-1999 Coordination Swiss Priority Program on Materials research: 2.2: Composites Since 1998 Biocomposites 2004-2009 Direction of the EPFL Transdisciplinary programme in Sport and Rehabilitation 2005-2008 Member of the EPFL Vice-Presidency for Innovation and Valorisation and direction a.i.EPFL-LTC Since 2016 Direction Discovery Learning Labs Materials/Bioengineering and Engineering

Official source

Related concepts (19)

Mirror image

A mirror image (in a plane mirror) is a reflected duplication of an object that appears almost identical, but is reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface. As an optical effect it results from reflection off from substances such as a mirror or water. It is also a concept in geometry and can be used as a conceptualization process for 3-D structures. Reflectional symmetry In geometry, the mirror image of an object or two-dimensional figure is the formed by reflection in a plane mirror; it is of the same size as the original object, yet different, unless the object or figure has reflection symmetry (also known as a P-symmetry).

Materials science

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Age of Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy. Materials science still incorporates elements of physics, chemistry, and engineering.

Mirror

A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an . Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the image in an equal yet opposite angle from which the light shines upon it. This allows the viewer to see themselves or objects behind them, or even objects that are at an angle from them but out of their field of view, such as around a corner.

Plane mirror

A plane mirror is a mirror with a flat (planar) reflective surface. For light rays striking a plane mirror, the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence. The angle of the incidence is the angle between the incident ray and the surface normal (an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface). Therefore, the angle of reflection is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal and a collimated beam of light does not spread out after reflection from a plane mirror, except for diffraction effects.

Curved mirror

A curved mirror is a mirror with a curved reflecting surface. The surface may be either convex (bulging outward) or concave (recessed inward). Most curved mirrors have surfaces that are shaped like part of a sphere, but other shapes are sometimes used in optical devices. The most common non-spherical type are parabolic reflectors, found in optical devices such as reflecting telescopes that need to image distant objects, since spherical mirror systems, like spherical lenses, suffer from spherical aberration.

Related lectures (29)

Chemistry: Atomic Structure and Thermodynamics

Covers atomic structure, thermodynamics, material properties, and ideal gas law.

Glass Transition: Polymer Properties

Explores glass and melting transitions in polymers, including characterization methods and specific polymer properties.

Deformation and Creep in Materials

Explores deformation, creep, material properties, mechanical tests, ceramics, polymers, metals, and atomic bonds.

Analyses of Materials and Interactions Beam-Matter

Covers the analyses of materials, characterisation techniques, and interactions of beams with matter.

Amorphous Materials