Isotropic and Homogeneous material

[gimini75]

What's the difference between Isotropic and Homogeneous material?


Thanks for your help

 

[CompuChip]

Isotropic means: looking the same in all directions.
Homogeneous means: the same at every place.

For example, a uniform electric field is homogeneous, because it looks the same at each point. However, it is not isotropic, because there is one "preferred" direction (you can easily experimentally verify whether you are looking a direction along the field lines or perpendicular to them, for example).