# Properties of solids
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 25, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800 "2005-10-25T12:42:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/1 "2005-10-25T12:42:42Z")
I’d like to compile a list of all the macroscopic properties of solid materials, if such a thing is possible. So things like tensile strength, electric conductivity, specific heat, etc. Not microscopic properties like atomic number, and not things like temperature that aren’t determined by the properties of the material. (Of course, some of the properties I’m interested in will be temperature _dependent_, but that’s OK as long as they also depend on the properties of the material.) Also, nothing that depends on how much material you have – so weight shouldn’t be listed, but density should.
Perhaps the best way to go would be for people to just list as many as they can think of off the top of their head, rather than worrying about whether it’s a complete list.
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### Author:  [@smartguysmile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartguysmile)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/2 "2005-10-25T12:44:50Z")
Melt point of water 0 celcius at std. pressure.
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/3 "2005-10-25T13:18:59Z")
> [@smartguysmile](#):
>
> Melt point of water 0 celcius at std. pressure.
I don’t mean values for particular substances, I just mean the properties.
E.g.:
- melting point
- density
- tensile strength
- specific heat
- electric conductivity/resistivity
etc.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/4 "2005-10-25T13:45:37Z")
A lot of macroscopic properties such as hardness and tensile strength are variable depending on how the material has been worked, so it just isn’t possible to give a standardized list. A paper clip and a sewing needle are both made out of steel but one is a hell of lot harder and stiffer than the other.
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### Author:  [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/5 "2005-10-25T13:46:24Z")
tensile strength
electric conductivity
specific heat
density
melting point
🙂
coefficient of thermal expansion, linear expansion, friction
diaelectric constant, dissipation factor, volume and surface resistivity
thermal conductivity, diffusivity
thermal radiative emittance, reflectance, absorptance, transmittance
shear modulus
bulk modulus
elastic modulus
creep strength
shear strength
Poisson’s ratio
magnetic permeability
Vicat softening temperature
flammability
visible light transmission
refractive index
specular gloss
solubility
impact strength
hardness
toughness
malleability
ductility
plasticity
mold shrinkage
void content
water absorption
color
odor
flavor
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/6 "2005-10-25T14:13:25Z")
Getcherself a copy of the {b}CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics\*\*. They’ve been putting this out annually for 85 years or so, and it’s the required reference for students. It has an awful lot of what you’re looking for, all in one convenient package.
The old volumes were about 8" high by 5" wide, printed on very thin paper. They called them “Chemical Rubber Bibles”, because that’s what they looked like, plus they contained The Truth. For the past 40 years or so they’ve been 12" high and correspondingly wider.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/7 "2005-10-25T18:07:47Z")
> [@tim314](#):
>
> Perhaps the best way to go would be for people to just list as many as they can think of off the top of their head, rather than worrying about whether it’s a complete list.
Silly Putty has the property of being able to lift newsprint.
Wood is hard.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/8 "2005-10-25T20:18:52Z")
:smack: Oh! Duuh… you want a list of what properties solids can have, not a comprehensive list of the properties of various solids.
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/9 "2005-10-27T23:00:39Z")
> [@Lumpy](#):
>
> :smack: Oh! Duuh… you want a list of what properties solids can have, not a comprehensive list of the properties of various solids.
Right, **yoyodyne** posted the sort of thing I was looking for.
> [@yoyodyne](#):
>
> tensile strength
> electric conductivity
> specific heat
> density
> melting point
>
> coefficient of thermal expansion, linear expansion, friction
> diaelectric constant, dissipation factor, volume and surface resistivity
> thermal conductivity, diffusivity
> thermal radiative emittance, reflectance, absorptance, transmittance
> shear modulus
> bulk modulus
> elastic modulus
> creep strength
> shear strength
> Poisson’s ratio
> magnetic permeability
> Vicat softening temperature
> flammability
> visible light transmission
> refractive index
> specular gloss
> solubility
> impact strength
> hardness
> toughness
> malleability
> ductility
> plasticity
> mold shrinkage
> void content
> water absorption
> color
> odor
> flavor
Thanks! 🙂
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### Author:  [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/properties-of-solids/327800/10 "2005-10-28T04:21:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> Getcherself a copy of the {b}CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics\*\*. They’ve been putting this out annually for 85 years or so, and it’s the required reference for students. It has an awful lot of what you’re looking for, all in one convenient package.
> The old volumes were about 8" high by 5" wide, printed on very thin paper. They called them “Chemical Rubber Bibles”, because that’s what they looked like, plus they contained The Truth. For the past 40 years or so they’ve been 12" high and correspondingly wider.
… or the “Rubber Book”. The rubber comes from Chemical Rubber Company (CRC), the company that publishes it. I think they have moved out of the rubber business.