Ceramic materials are inorganic, non-metallic materials made from metal and non-metal compounds. Ceramics can be crystalline or partly crystalline. They include materials like silicates, aluminates, oxides, carbides, borides and hydroxides. Ceramics exhibit properties like hardness, strength in compression, chemical inertness, and ability to withstand high temperatures but are brittle and weak in tension. Common ceramic structures include cesium chloride, sodium chloride, and zinc blende structures which are characterized by their coordination numbers and cation to anion radius ratios.