EVERYDAY MATERIALSAtlas
Material behaviour

Temperature behaviour

Stay useful as conditions change.

What it means

Materials can soften, expand, degrade or change structure as they heat up. Heat resistance is not one universal temperature rating. Thermal shock is damage associated with temperature differences and the stresses they create. Low expansion can help, but geometry, surface flaws and the rate of temperature change also matter.

Look for it in everyday life.

Borosilicate glass has a different expansion behaviour from ordinary soda-lime glass.

Meet it in a material.

Cast iron

A heavy pan with a cast-in shape.

Metals

Nickel

A small addition can change the whole material.

Metals

Cobalt

Different chemistry, different job.

Elements & minerals

Borosilicate glass

Glass designed to move less with heat.

Glass & ceramics

Silica

The same chemistry can have different structures.

Elements & minerals

Silicone

A flexible seal built on a silicon–oxygen backbone.

Polymers

Gypsum

A mineral whose bound water can be rearranged.

Elements & minerals

Stoneware

Clay made dense enough for everyday ware.

Glass & ceramics

Nichrome

A wire whose resistance is the point.

Metals

Elastane / spandex

A small thread that changes how a fabric moves.

Polymers

Follow the evidence

Original explanations informed by the sources below. Technical and industry sources support material behaviour; industry environmental marketing is not treated as a universal comparison. Read our editorial method.