Core Content

What does PVA stand for?

Polyvinyl acetate

What can PVA be used on?

Wood (widely used for the construction of furniture)

How strong is PVA?

Strong

How long does PVA take to dry?

4-24 hours

What can hot glue guns be used for?

Woods, plastics and metals

What strength joint does a hot glue gun give?

Medium strength

What form is the glue in hot glue guns?

Thermoplastic glue sticks

How long does hot glue take to dry?

30 seconds once cooled

What can all purpose adhesive be used on?

Wood, plastics and metals

What can UHU be used to glue?

Mixed materials, viable joints and transparent materials

What strength joint does UHU give?

High strength

What form does UHU come in?

liquid

What is the drying time of UHU?

10 minutes

What can araldite be used on?

wood, plastic, metal and as a filler to bridge/fill gap as it is waterproof

What strength joint does araldite give?

Strong

What form does araldite come in?

2 tubes - hardener and resin

What is the drying time for araldite?

1/2 - 6 hours

What can tensol be used on?

Thermoplastics

What is tensol used for?

Joining plastics?

How does tensol work?

Dissolves the surfaces, fusing them together

What strength joint does tensol give?

Medium

What is the drying time of tensol?

3-24 hours

What is one point perspective?

"This shows an object from the front in a realistic way as it gets smaller going into the distance. The front view goes back towards a vanishing point, which is a point on the horizon line that all lines meet at."

What is 2 point perspective?

"This shows an object from the side with two vanishing points. It gives the most realistic view of a product as it shows the item edge on, as we would see it. It is often used to produce realistic drawings of an object."

What can 1 point perspective be used for?

"Single-point perspective is often used by interior designers to show a view into a room"

What can 2 point perspective be used for?

"two-point perspective is often used by architects to show realistic building ideas."

What are the 3 rules of isometric drawing?

"

• horizontal edges are drawn at 30 degrees
• vertical edges are drawn as vertical lines
• parallel edges appear as parallel lines

"

What are the benefits of isometric drawings?

"Isometric drawings, sometimes called isometric projections, are a good way of showing measurements and how components fit together. Unlike perspective drawings, they don’t get smaller as the lines go into the distance."

What can isometric drawings be used for?

"

They are used by architects and engineers to communicate their ideas to the client and manufacturer, showing the product or design to scale

What are orthographic projections?

"Orthographic projections are working drawings in either a first or third angle projection and show each side of a design without perspective, ie a 2D drawing of a 3D object.

"

What can orthographic drawings be used for?

"They are used to show an object from every angle to help manufacturers plan production."

How do orthographic drawings work?

"Starting with a front view of a product, construction lines show where areas join and are used to draw a side and plan (top) view, ensuring that the drawing is accurate from all angles. These drawings are to scale and must show dimensions."

What does an oval represent?

Start/end

What does a parallelogram mean?

input/output

What does a diamond mean?

A decision/question

What does a rectangle mean?

A process/action

What is the main component of polymers?

Crude oil (usually made from oil-based petrochemicals), but coal and gas can also been used

What is environmentally unfriendly about crude oil and polymers?

- Crude oil is a non-renewable resource

- Polymers take a long time to biodegrade

- If spilled into sea, can damage sea life

What are the 2 types of plastics?

Thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics

What can thermoplastics be used for?

Milk bottles, food packaging

What can thermosetting plastics be used for?

Light switches, plug sockets

Which type of plastic is easier to recycle?

Thermoplastics

What is the difference between the 2 plastics?

Thermosetting plastics burn if heat is applied, but thermoplastics can be melted and reshaped multiple times

What is the iterative design process?

The iterative process is an approach to continually improve a design or product. People create a prototype and test it, then tweak and test the revised prototype, and repeat this cycle until they reach a solution.

What is collaboration?

When a group of people discuss, share and work with each other to get different perspectives on a problem and generate many different design ideas

What are the advantages of collaboration?

"

When a diverse team works closely together, especially during the

early design stages, and revisit the designs as part of the iterative design process, it can lead to a highly

innovative product.</div>

- It can open new avenues of investigation and designs that one designer

wouldn’t have thought of</div>"

What does SCAMPER stand for?

"

What is user centred design?

User-centred design revolves around putting your users’ needs at the centre of every decision that is made throughout the whole designing process. 

It has 4 stages:

1.Context of use – The use, the users and the conditions which it will be used in

2.Requirements – Identify user goals

3.Create solutions

4.Evaluate designs – Usability testing 

What are the advantages of user centred design?

- It means less refinement and less modification needed later as the design is made with mainly the user in mind

- Ensures that the users’ opinions are considered at every stage so that the design cannot go off at a tangent or get lost in the design process.

What is systems thinking?

Systems thinking breaks down each part of a product or system in a logical way to figure out how it will work.

How can you use systems thinking to design products?

Designing certain products, eg electrical products, may require a different technique known as a systems approach. 

This logical approach is particularly useful in electronics where there is an input, process and output, as each stage has to perform a specific function before moving on to the next step. 

What is paper made of?

Fine cellulose fibres, usually from wood but also hemp, flax, cotton or bamboo, pressed together with water and then dried

How is the required texture and surface finish achieved?

Chemicals are added to the pulp – brightening bleaches, eg.

It may be coated with an agent that fills the minuscule pits between the fibres, for a smooth, flat surface with better opacity, lustre and colour-absorption.

What is paper and board measured in and what does it mean?

gsm - grams/square metre

The number of grams a 1m x 1m sheet weighs

How is paper made?

1. Tiny chips of wood are cooked in water and chemicals to make a mushy wood pulp. 

2. The pulp is then poured through a filter or a fine mesh. 

3. As the water drains away, the cellulose fibres naturally join to form the papers structure. 

4. The paper then moves through a set of machine rollers which flattens the paper and removes any left over water.

5. Flattening the paper makes the mesh of fibres stronger.

What is paper?

A mixture of 2+ metals or elements, which has improved properties and characteristics

What is toughness?

Resistant to impact and water

What is board?

Paper weighing more than 220 gsm.

Thickness is measured in microns = 1/1000 of a mm

A two-ply board is 200 microns thick

What is flexibility?

Amount material bends when a force is applied, determined by thickness and weight

What is flexural stiffness?

Resistance to an external bending force

What is handling stiffness?

The ability to support its own weight

What is printability?

Ability to accept a printed image onto its surface (porosity)

Not the same as print quality, which is determined by other factors such as alignment of plates on the machinery

What is printability affected by?

Affected by surface properties, such as smoothness or finish, and structural properties, such as bulk or thickness

What is biodegradability?

Ability to be broken down by bacteria or other biological means

What does compostable mean?

Compostable means that a material can biodegrade in less than 12 weeks

Why are most uncoated paper products biodegradeable?

Most uncoated paper products are biodegradable because they are made from wood pulp

What is an electronic system?

It has input and output devices, with a controller between them

What does the electronic system do?

The system reads the input signals and controls the output system according to the instructions in the program it has been given:

INPUT DEVICE ----> CONTROLLER ----> OUTPUT DEVICE

What is the input, controller and output of a computer?

Mouse or buttons on keyboard - input (give information to the computer) ----> computer controller reads inputs, and the program tells it what to do ----> Screen/printer/laser cutter/robot in a factory

What is a light dependant resistor (LDR)?

When light falls on the sensing area of an LDR its resistance changes:

- In the light resistance is low, so electricity flows

- In the dark resistance is high, so not much electricity flows

What is input signal?

Information given to the system by an input device

What is input device?

Something that can give an input signal to the system

What is an output signal?

An instruction the system gives to an output device

What is an output device?

Something that is controlled by the output signal from the system

What is a program?

A set of instructions the system controller has been given to make the electronic system do what it's supposed to do

What is resistance?

A measure of how easy it is for electricity to flow in a circuit

What is a sensor?

It is affected by the conditions around it. 

What is a thermistor?

A temperature dependant resistor. Its resistance changes with temperature

- When it's hot, the resistance is low

- When it's cold, the resistance is higher

How does an electric thermometer use a thermistor?

As the temperature changes, the system measures the resistance of the thermistor and turns it into a number to display on a screen

What else can be used to give an input signal?

As well as sensors, there are some other components than can be used to give an input signal to an electronic circuit

What is a rocker switch?

It has a button that switches between on and off

It's a simple control device that the user can operate to switch a circuit on/off

What is a resistor?

A component that can be added to a circuit to change its resistance

It can limit the flow of electricity through part of the circuit

What can resistors be used for?

- Protect delicate components by stopping too much electricity flowing through them

- Help control the flow of electricity around a circuit

What is a transistor?

A tiny electronic switch which has 3 connections

What are the 3 connections of a transistor?

A small voltage at the base connection turns it on and lets a larger current flow into the collector and out of the emitter

Why are transistors useful?

In sensing circuits to amplify the small current you get from some sensors

What kind of conductor is a transistor?

A semi-conductor

How can transistors be made extremely small?

By etching them onto silicon wafers known as silicon chips

What are output devices controlled by?

In an electronic system, the system controls the output devices. 

They can be simple things like lights or complex things like computer screens

What is a buzzer and how is it useful?

A component that makes a sound

It can be useful in a sensing device to give people a warning that something needs their attention

What is an LED and what is it used for?

A light emitting diode gives out light when electricity is passed through it

They can be small coloured indicator lights or bright enough to light up a room in a house

What is a component?

An individual piece of a circuit

What is circuit

Individual components are joined up with a conductive material so electricity can flow through them and perform a task

What is voltage?

The amount of force available that could make electricity flow

What is current?

The amount of electricity that is flowing through a circuit

What is a semi-conductor?

A material that allows electricity to flow under certain conditions