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
Voyage to the centre of the 'Plastic Vortex'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 25, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (65) |
37
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."
Researchers fuel the next generation of hybrid cars
Jul 31, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (48) |
4
Monash University scientists have revolutionised the design of fuel cells used in the latest generation of hybrid cars which could make the vehicles more reliable and cheaper to build.
How Much Energy Goes Into Making a Bottle of Water?
Mar 17, 2009 |
4 / 5 (44) |
39
(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 ...
Scientists find 'great Pacific Ocean garbage patch'
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 27, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (33) |
30
Scientists have just completed an unprecedented journey into the vast and little-explored "Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch."
Can Recycling Be Bad for the Environment?
Jul 14, 2009 |
3.2 / 5 (31) |
27
(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 ...
Storing a Lightning Bolt in Glass for Portable Power
May 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (21) |
9
(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 ...
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.
Major advance in organic solar cells
Oct 19, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
0
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. ...
Plastics in oceans decompose, release hazardous chemicals, surprising new study says
Aug 19, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
1
In the first study to look at what happens over the years to the billions of pounds of plastic waste floating in the world's oceans, scientists are reporting that plastics -- reputed to be virtually indestructible ...
One word: bioplastics
Nov 17, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (14) |
4
(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.
A better image for plastic solar cells
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 07, 2008 |
4 / 5 (15) |
0
A new way to help technologists develop efficient and inexpensive plastic electronic devices, such as plastic solar cells and a new type of transistor was showcased by physicist Andrea Liscio, who is supported ...
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 ...
Nation's first face transplant patient shows face
May 05, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (11) |
3
(AP) -- Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.
Hormone-mimics in plastic water bottles -- just the tip of the iceberg?
Mar 26, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (10) |
7
In an analysis1 of commercially available mineral waters, the researchers found evidence of estrogenic compounds leaching out of the plastic packaging into the water. What's more, these chemicals are potent in vivo and result ...
Plastic as a conductor
Dec 02, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic that conducts electricity and metal that weighs no more than a feather? It sounds like an upside-down world. Yet researchers have succeeded in making plastics conductive and cutting ...
