Ceramics: Tough but Fragile

Ceramics are extraordinarily hard and heat-resistant. They keep their structure at temperatures where metals would melt. Space shuttle tiles were made of silica ceramic that shielded the orbiter from re-entry temperatures around 1,260°C.

Ceramics are brittle — they crack suddenly because rigid ionic bonds cannot absorb energy by stretching. When stress exceeds bond strength, the material fractures catastrophically: a ceramic plate shatters, but a metal pan just dents.