Edexcel GCSE Design and Technology key terms

A structure with a lightweight core bonded between two outer faces, providing thickness and stiffness with relatively low weight.

A weave with long yarn floats and spaced interlacings, producing a smooth, usually shiny face without twill’s distinct diagonal ribs.

The numerical values represented by the spacing and divisions on a graph axis.

An accurate representation in which every length is changed by the same factor while angles remain unchanged.

The number by which each length is multiplied to produce a corresponding length in a scaled representation.

The quantity of products manufactured over a period of time and the way production is organised.

A chemical element whose usable supply is limited or difficult to obtain reliably, for example because production is concentrated in particular places.

A material whose available supply is limited relative to demand, making it difficult to obtain reliably.

A graph of paired numerical values used to investigate whether two quantities are related.

A situation or set of conditions used to consider what a product needs to do and how suitable a design would be.

A diagram using symbols and connections to show how components form a working system, rather than their realistic appearance.

A site where science- or technology-based businesses and research organisations cluster, often near a university, to support innovation.

Pressing a line into paper or board to prepare it for a controlled fold.

Discarded metal products or manufacturing offcuts that can be recovered and processed for reuse.

A printing technique in which a squeegee pushes colour through the open areas of a mesh screen while a stencil blocks other areas.

A spiral ridge around a cylinder, or a matching spiral groove inside a hole, that allows parts to engage as they are turned.

A join closed against leakage, for example by welding compatible synthetic textile surfaces together.

A line of stitching that joins pieces of fabric to form part of a textile product.

The fabric between a seam’s stitching line and the cut edge.

The controlled drying of timber to reduce its moisture content and improve its stability in use.

The finished edge along the length of woven fabric, which can be used as a reference for grain alignment.

An input component that responds to a physical condition, such as light, temperature, moisture or force, by producing an electrical change.

An arrangement in which components are connected one after another along a single current path.

The time and expense needed to prepare machinery and equipment for a production run.

The cost of preparing a manufacturing process for a production run, including programming machines and arranging tooling.

An alloy that can recover a previously set shape when heated after being deformed.

Removing material from timber to produce a required size, shape or surface.