Plastic
hidePlastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular weight, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs.
The word derives from the Greek πλαστικός (plastikos) meaning fit for molding, and πλαστός (plastos) meaning molded. It refers to their malleability, or plasticity during manufacture, that allows them to be cast, pressed, or extruded into an enormous variety of shapes—such as films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more.
The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, which is applied to any material which undergoes a permanent change of shape (plastic deformation) when strained beyond a certain point. Aluminum, for instance, is plastic in this sense, but not a plastic in the common sense; while some plastics, in their finished forms, will break before deforming and therefore are not plastic in the technical sense.
There are two types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastics, if exposed to enough heat, will melt. Thermosets will keep their shape until they are charred and burnt. Some examples of thermoplastics are grocery bags, piano keys and some automobile parts. Examples of thermosets are children's dinner sets and circuit boards.
For more information about Plastic, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with plastic
Japan mines toxic e-waste for precious materials
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Seeking to turn an environmental problem into an economic opportunity, high-tech companies in resource-poor Japan are mining mountains of toxic e-waste for precious materials.
Student-Made 'Sustain-a-Bear' Puts Green Spin on Timeless Toy
Dec 22, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
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Most teddy bears, regretfully, face a lonesome retirement once their owners grow up or move on.
Plastics component affects intestine: study
Dec 14, 2009 |
5 / 5 (8) |
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The chemical Bisphenol A used in plastic containers and drinks cans has been shown for the first time to affect the functioning of the intestines, according to a French study published Monday.
How Much Energy Goes Into Making a Bottle of Water?
Mar 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people who buy bottled water have access to clean drinking water virtually for free (in the US, tap water costs less than a penny per gallon, on average). Nevertheless, the consumption ...
Security ID cards with built-in holograms (w/ Video)
Dec 01, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic cards with security features are ubiquitous these days, having a wide variety of uses such as credit cards, employee cards, licenses, and so on. Many have holographic images, but they ...
Scientists find 'great Pacific Ocean garbage patch'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 27, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (33) |
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Scientists have just completed an unprecedented journey into the vast and little-explored "Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch."
Major advance in organic solar cells
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Professor Guillermo Bazan and a team of postgraduate researchers at UC Santa Barbara's Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) today announced a major advance in the synthesis of organic polymers for plastic solar cells. ...
Storing a Lightning Bolt in Glass for Portable Power
May 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (21) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Materials researchers at Penn State University have reported the highest known breakdown strength for a bulk glass ever measured. Breakdown strength, along with dielectric constant, determines ...
Plastics that convert light to electricity could have a big impact
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Aug 04, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (12) |
5
University of Washington researchers have found a way to measure exactly how much electrical current is carried by tiny bubbles and channels that form inside nanoscale solar cells, paving the way for development ...
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Every year, more than 250 billion pounds of plastic are produced worldwide. Much of it ends up in the world's oceans, a fact that troubles MIT biology professor Anthony Sinskey.
Flexible, transparent supercapacitors -- bend and twist them like a poker card
Mar 31, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (15) |
10
It is a completely transparent and flexible energy conversion and storage device that you can bend and twist like a poker card.
Voyage to the centre of the 'Plastic Vortex'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 25, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (65) |
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A group of conservationists and scientists is due to set sail for an obscure corner of the Pacific Ocean in the coming months to explore a vast swirl of waste known as the "Plastic Vortex."
Nanomedicine: ending 'hit and miss' design
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 08, 2009 |
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0
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the promises of nanomedicine is the design of tiny particles that can home in on diseased cells and get inside them. Nanoparticles can carry drugs into cells and tag cells for MRI and other diagnostic ...
Did India invent the nose job?
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Oct 29, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (7) |
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An Indian doctor working in 600 B.C. might have been the world's first plastic surgeon, according to a new exhibition that challenges Western domination of the history of science and technology.
Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?
Jul 14, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (31) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- By now, nearly everyone knows that it is important to recycle. It helps the environment. Even my six-year-old knows that. But what if it doesn't? While it seems pretty straightforward, in ...
