Natural material

A natural material is any product or physical matter that comes from plants, animals, or the ground which is not man-made.^[1][2] Minerals and the metals that can be extracted from them (without further modification) are also considered to belong into this category. Natural materials are used as building materials and clothing. Types include:

• Biotic materials
  • Wood (rattan, bamboo, bark, etc.)
• Plant fiber (coir, ramie, sisal, cotton, flax, hemp, jute, kapok, kenaf, moss, linen, abacá, etc.)
• Animal fiber (wool, silk, alpaca, camel, angora, cashmere, mohair, etc.)
• Inorganic material
  • Stone (flint, granite, limestone, obsidian, sandstone, sand, gems, glass, etc.)
  • Native metal (copper, iron, gold, silver, etc.)
  • Composites (clay, plasticine, etc.)
• Other natural materials.
  • Soil

See also

• Alternative natural materials
• Dimension stone
• Earth shelter
• Earth structure
• Green building and wood
• Greystone (residential buildings made from limestone)
• Hempcrete
• Log house
• Material science
• Metamaterials
• Natural building
• Natural environment
• Natural product
• Natural resources
• Nature
• Rammed earth
• Straw-bale construction

References

1. "What does natural material mean?". Retrieved 2 May 2018.
2. "Synthetic and natural materials". GCSE Bitesize. BBC. Retrieved 2 May 2018.

Further reading

• DeMouthe JF (2006). Natural Materials: Sources, Properties, and Uses (1st ed.). Oxford: Architectural Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-6528-5.