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How Things Break

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Summary

Areas of Science
Difficulty
 
Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
*Note: For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.

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Abstract

If you're interested in analyzing how things break, check out the Science Buddies project Fractography: The Way Things Break.
icon scientific method

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Careers

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:

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What makes it possible to create high-technology objects like computers and sports gear? It's the materials inside those products. Materials scientists and engineers develop materials, like metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites, that other engineers need for their designs. Materials scientists and engineers think atomically (meaning they understand things at the nanoscale level), but they design microscopically (at the level of a microscope), and their materials are used macroscopically… Read more
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You use mechanical devices every day—to zip and snap your clothing, open doors, refrigerate and cook your food, get clean water, heat your home, play music, surf the Internet, travel around, and even to brush your teeth. Virtually every object that you see around has been mechanically engineered or designed at some point, requiring the skills of mechanical engineering technicians to create drawings of the product, or to build and test models of the product to find the best design. Read more

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General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.

MLA Style

Science Buddies Staff. "How Things Break." Science Buddies, 20 Nov. 2020, https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/MatlSci_p032/materials-science/how-things-break?class=AQUygiAGcY1u1YCXoX77lWEPZ8tGvz3SfUVi5MAJzbFKSTrA-NkQwUG_zMAaPVfkZviG5y841bfk4U1vmdRW50_v. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

APA Style

Science Buddies Staff. (2020, November 20). How Things Break. Retrieved from https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/MatlSci_p032/materials-science/how-things-break?class=AQUygiAGcY1u1YCXoX77lWEPZ8tGvz3SfUVi5MAJzbFKSTrA-NkQwUG_zMAaPVfkZviG5y841bfk4U1vmdRW50_v


Last edit date: 2020-11-20
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