Quick Reference Activity Guide: Amorphous Metals

Atoms are arranged in a crystalline solid with a repeating patternwhile the atoms in an amorphous material have no regular pattern (they are all jumbled). The properties of a material are highly dependent on the arrangement of atoms in that material. Let’s compare the rebounding properties of a crystalline and an amorphous metal. Which material would you like to use for the head of your golf club? What are the important properties of a golf club? Let’s compare the two surfaces to figure out which one would make a better golf club.

Full Instructions

Materials

  • Two acrylic tubes
  • A stainless steel base and a stainless steel base with an amorphous metal disk glued on with epoxy
  • Two stainless steel ball bearings
  • The face-centered cubic (fcc) model built with the solid state model kit
  • Different sized marbles in a jar (represents an amorphous arrangement of atoms)