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
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News tagged with plastic
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
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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.
Security ID cards with built-in holograms (w/ Video)
Dec 01, 2009 |
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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 ...
First near-total face and upper-jaw transplant appears successful
Nov 16, 2009 |
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More than a year and a half following the first near-total face and upper jaw transplant, the donor tissue appears successfully integrated, according to a report in the November/December issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Su ...
Twins joined at head successfully separated (Update 2)
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A team of 16 surgeons and nurses successfully concluded 25 hours of delicate surgery Tuesday to separate twin Bangladeshi girls who had been joined at their heads, sharing blood vessels and brain ...
Use of rib cartilage grafts in rhinoplasty results in patient satisfaction, few complications
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Rib cartilage from human donors is well tolerated as a grafting material in nasal plastic surgery and yields positive functional, structural and cosmetic results, even in complex cases, according to a report in the November/December ...
Last-resort lower-body amputation effective in extreme cases of bone infection, 25-year review shows
Nov 17, 2009 |
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A landmark, 25-year review of cases in which surgeons had to remove the lower portion of the body from the waist down for severe pelvic bone infections shows the therapy can add years and quality of life to survivors, say ...
Nanomedicine: ending 'hit and miss' design
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(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 ...
