Due to their unique properties, such as durability, resistance to temperature, and chemical stability, ceramics has many applications in our daily lives. We all use ceramic dishes like porcelain, clay, and stone utensils to cook and serve food.
Ceramics
Pottery and ceramics are one and the same. The word ceramic derives from Greek which translates as "of pottery" or "for pottery". Both pottery and ceramic are general terms that describe objects which have been formed with clay, hardened by firing and decorated or glazed.
Ceramics are a combination of metallic and non-metallic elements that are shaped and fired at high temperatures to create a non-metallic material. They have been used for thousands of years for a variety of practical, artistic, and cultural purposes.
Firing ceramics make them hardened and heat resistant. Ceramic objects are used as building materials, functional dinnerware, decorative sculpture, and more. “Ceramic” can be used as an adjective, or as a noun to describe the clay object once it has been fired.
Ceramics are items made from a non-metal material (such as clay) that changes when exposed to high heat (like that lump of clay “turning” into a beautiful sculpture). Pottery is a type of ceramic, specifically a vessel that holds something.
Once shaped, the clay body is fired in a kiln at a high temperature to be hardened and heat resistant. There are a number of pottery techniques used to create functional and ornamental ceramic objects. Potters use wheel throwing to create symmetrical pottery and slip casting to create multiples of one object. They may also use hand-building techniques such as slab rolling, coiling, and pinching.
Ceramics are generally made by taking mixtures of clay, earthen elements, powders, and water and shaping them into desired forms. Once the ceramic has been shaped, it is fired in a high temperature oven known as a kiln. Often, ceramics are covered in decorative, waterproof, paint-like substances known as glazes.
Clay is a good example of a ceramic material - items made out of clay, once fired, are turned into a ceramic, and they cannot be returned to their original state. There are, of course, other ceramic materials, such as glaze, which when heated are permanently changed in their state.
Intro to Ceramics: Understanding the Types & How to Learn