Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals[1] (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, Al2Si2O5(OH)4). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impurities, such as a reddish or brownish colour from small amounts of iron oxide.[2][3]
Clays develop plasticity when wet but can be hardened through firing.[4][5][6] Clay is the longest-known ceramic material. Prehistoric humans discovered the useful properties of clay and used it for making pottery. Some of the earliest pottery shards have been dated to around 14,000 BCE,[7] and clay tablets were the first known writing medium.[8] Clay is used in many modern industrial processes, such as paper making, cement production, and chemical filtering. Between one-half and two-thirds of the world's population live or work in buildings made with clay, often baked into brick, as an essential part of its load-bearing structure.
Clay is a very common substance. Shale, formed largely from clay, is the most common sedimentary rock.[9] Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size and mineralogy. Silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. Mixtures of sand, silt and less than 40% clay are called loam. Soils high in swelling clays (expansive clay), which are clay minerals that readily expand in volume when they absorb water, are a major challenge in civil engineering.[1]
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, Al2Si2O5(OH)4). Most...
A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick...
Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "the...
Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives...
63 of these on clay courts. Nadal is one of only two men to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the...
Clay County, Florida Clay County, Georgia Clay County, Illinois Clay County, Indiana Clay County, Iowa (named for Henry Clay Jr., son of Henry Clay and...
Clay modeling (or clay model making) for automobile prototypes was first introduced in the 1930s by automobile designer Harley Earl, head of the General...
Marcellus Clay may refer to: Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician) (1810–1903), American politician and abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912–1990)...
Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay...
Look up clay pigeon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Clay pigeon may refer to: the target of the sport of clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon floor procedure...
Learning to Sing. In 2004, he also had a televised Christmas special, A Clay Aiken Christmas. During much of 2008 he appeared on Broadway in the musical...
Richard Clay Travis (born April 6, 1979) is an American writer, lawyer, radio host and television analyst, and founder of OutKick. As a political commentator...
The Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to increasing and disseminating mathematical knowledge. Formerly based...
Fire clay is a range of refractory clays used in the manufacture of ceramics, especially fire brick. The United States Environmental Protection Agency...
William Clay, Willie Clay, Bill Clay, or Billy Clay may refer to: Bill Clay (William Lacy Clay, Sr., born 1931), politician from the state of Missouri...
4, 2022, 911 reported that 64-year-old Sheila Fletcher and her husband, Clay Fletcher, had found her 36-year-old daughter Lacey Ellen Fletcher dead on...
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates (e.g. kaolin, Al2Si2O5(OH)4), sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline...
is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them...
Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s...
Polymer clay is a type of hardenable modeling clay based on the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). It typically contains no clay minerals, but like mineral...
Modelling clay or modelling compound is any of a group of malleable substances used in building and sculpting. The material compositions and production...
the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. The Clay Institute has pledged a US$1 million prize for the first correct solution to each problem. The Clay Mathematics...
Glen Clay Higgins (born August 24, 1961) is an American politician and reserve law enforcement officer from the state of Louisiana. A Republican, Higgins...
James Clay may refer to: James Clay (author) (1804–1873), English MP and writer about the game of whist James Clay (musician) (1935–1994), saxophonist...
Clay Evans may refer to: H. Clay Evans (1843–1921), American politician and businessman Clay Evans (One Tree Hill), a fictional character from the television...
William Lacy "Bill" Clay Sr. (born April 30, 1931) is an American politician from Missouri. As Congressman from Missouri's first district, he represented...