Difference between "composite" and "compound"

Is there any difference between composite and compound? Are these words synonyms?

Solution 1:

Composite are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties and which remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level within the finished structure.

A compound is a substance consisting of two or more different elements chemically bonded together in a fixed proportion by mass and it is a substance that can be split up into simpler substances.

Yes, they are synonyms.

Solution 2:

It is a debatable subject. I have had many composite and compound crossbows and bows.

Composite is something that is made from two or more materials usually for extra strength, flexibility or durability, e.g. when they put a plaster cast on a broken limb it is made from plaster (or a similar substance) and bandage. The bandage alone is not strong enough on its own to hold the bone it place to heal and the plaster is to brittle to last the amount of time it would take for the bone to heal itself (it would simply crack and break), but fused with the fibre's of the bandage it becomes much stronger. It is macroscopic because you can see the fibres in the plaster with the naked eye as opposed to microscopic which is something that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Something that is compound is made from two or more materials that is bonded at the molecular level, e.g. one of my bows is made from carbon and aluminium but to the naked eye it looks like it is made out of a single material because they are bonded at a microscopic level.

English is a debatable language, the meaning, spelling and use of grammar and Punctuation of many words is still hotly debated, e.g. Non debatable (I now, ironic isn't it!), Nondebatable and Non-debatable

As long as you are consistent throughout your work, e.g. if you used 23 in a sentence and then later used *forty-one it would be wrong, you must put **41 or Change the 23 to twenty-three.

Material sourced from: myself.

Solution 3:

The usual usage in IT is “compound statement”. You won’t be prosecuted for using composite. In IT compounding operations and variables “build up” the statement. Composite doesn’t cover that meaning.