Finally, mechanical properties describe how elastic or plastic a material is. Elastic materials are those like elastic bands which can be stretched but return to their original shape. Plastic materials are those like clay which can be molded or pushed into shape. A spring Wet sand Bubble gum Cement Mud Thermal properties tell engineers how a material reacts to hot and cold. Some materials, like concrete, tend to expand in the heat and shrink in the cold.
Some materials conduct heat, others insulate from the cold.
Potholes can appear in road beds or in any rock which has been subject to alternate heating and cooling. Chemical properties are those properties which tell engineers and scientists how a material reacts with the chemicals in its environment. These days it s important to know how materials will react to acid rain. Your students may think these are silly questions, stone canoes would sink and marble mattresses would be really uncomfortable, but ask them how they know these things. It is precisely because they know about the properties of stone and marbles that they will think the questions are nonsense.