Polymers They're Everywhere -- Polymers At Home

Polymers at Home
What makes all these different? Each connects with a different kind of human-made polymer that we encounter in our homes every day. Click around the screen with your mouse to find the eight different types of polymers!
© 1997 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.

The simple, repeating chemical structure of polyethylene - a chain of carbon atoms, each bonded to a pair of hydrogen atoms - typifies the building-block nature of polymers. Silicon, too, can form polymer chains, as it does in many of the minerals that form the earth's crust.

Vulcanized Rubber
Natural rubber from latex, which comes from the sap of tropical trees, made nifty balls that you could bounce. But it became hard and brittle when it got too cold, a sticky mess when it got too warm. In 1839 Charles Goodyear discovered that latex heated with sulfur - or "vulcanized" - would remain elastic at a wide range of temperatures. Although Goodyear didn't know why his invention worked, we do today:
The sulfur made bridges between the long chain polymers in rubber to keep them from sliding past one another or contracting into knots. Carriages, cars, trucks, and buses have traveled billions of miles on tires made from vulcanized rubber and synthetic substitutes.

Bakelite
In 1907 Leo Baekeland patented a revolutionary new material. You could mold it at high temperatures and it would retain its shape whencooled. You could dye it brilliant colors. Baekeland was so taken with his invention Ñ the world's first widely manufactured plastic - that he named it "Bakelite" after himself. Soon everything from telephones and radios to auto parts, furniture, and jewelry was being made from Bakelite. In a cover story on Leo Baekeland in 1924, Time magazine proclaimed that "in a few years [Bakelite] will be embodied in every mechanical facility of modern civilization. From the time that a man brushes his teeth in the morning with a Bakelite handled brush, until the moment he falls back on his Bakelite bed ... all that he touches, sees, uses, will be made of this material of a thousand uses."

Polyethylene
Polyethyl-who? You ought to know: You probably see polyethylene every day! It's the plastic used to make many containers, among other things. Small tubes of polyethylene are heated, inserted into molds, and blown up like balloons to make containers for soft drinks, fruit juices, water, and milk. Labels on items made of polyethylene make it easier to separate the different kinds (such as PET, LDPE, and HDPE) for recycling.

Vinyl
Homeowners weary of painting their abodes often turn to exterior siding made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), better known as vinyl. Easy to clean, waterproof, and resistant to corrosion, vinyl is also used in car interiors and in the pipes that carry sewage away from buildings.

Acrylics
Water-resistant paints and varnishes derive from a family of synthetic polymers called acrylics. You can also paint yourself warm with acrylics: Spun acrylics find their way into fiberfill jackets and bedtime comforters.

Neoprene
Scuba divers often wear a second skin of neoprene, a tough synthetic plastic that keeps them warm and protects against razor-sharp urchin spines and coral.

Polymers at War
World War II pushed plastics production into high gear. Japanese submarines made it impossible for Allied nations such as Great Britain and the United States to import latex, the basis of most natural rubber, from Asian plantations. Industrial chemists rose to the challenge, devising economical means of producing synthetic rubber in huge volumes. They also created new polymers for use in airplanes, ships, and tanks under fire. Silk without silkworms? Practically. The plastic nylon replaced the silk in hosiery in 1938. Many of the airborne troops in World War II floated to earth beneath nylon parachutes. Other synthetic fibers such as polyester made the fashions of the 1970s possible.

Polystyrene
Polystyrene foam can be made into cartons to protect eggs or into packing "peanuts" to cushion fragile objects for shipping. It insulates, so folks put drinks in foam cups and coolers to keep the warm ones warm and the cold ones cold. Placed behind walls and ceilings in homes, polystyrene foam helps keep the weather outside at bay. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), gases that contain both chlorine and fluorine, were sometimes used to make foam products. Since the discovery that CFCs damage the earth's protective ozone layer, manufacturers have phased out their use in the creation of foam packaging and most other types of polystyrene foam.

© 1997 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.

	The simple, repeating chemical structure of polyethylene - a chain of carbon atoms, each bonded to a pair of hydrogen atoms - typifies the building-block nature of polymers. Silicon, too, can form polymer chains, as it does in many of the minerals that form the earth's crust.
	Vulcanized Rubber Natural rubber from latex, which comes from the sap of tropical trees, made nifty balls that you could bounce. But it became hard and brittle when it got too cold, a sticky mess when it got too warm. In 1839 Charles Goodyear discovered that latex heated with sulfur - or "vulcanized" - would remain elastic at a wide range of temperatures. Although Goodyear didn't know why his invention worked, we do today: The sulfur made bridges between the long chain polymers in rubber to keep them from sliding past one another or contracting into knots. Carriages, cars, trucks, and buses have traveled billions of miles on tires made from vulcanized rubber and synthetic substitutes.
	Bakelite In 1907 Leo Baekeland patented a revolutionary new material. You could mold it at high temperatures and it would retain its shape whencooled. You could dye it brilliant colors. Baekeland was so taken with his invention Ñ the world's first widely manufactured plastic - that he named it "Bakelite" after himself. Soon everything from telephones and radios to auto parts, furniture, and jewelry was being made from Bakelite. In a cover story on Leo Baekeland in 1924, Time magazine proclaimed that "in a few years [Bakelite] will be embodied in every mechanical facility of modern civilization. From the time that a man brushes his teeth in the morning with a Bakelite handled brush, until the moment he falls back on his Bakelite bed ... all that he touches, sees, uses, will be made of this material of a thousand uses."
	Polyethylene Polyethyl-who? You ought to know: You probably see polyethylene every day! It's the plastic used to make many containers, among other things. Small tubes of polyethylene are heated, inserted into molds, and blown up like balloons to make containers for soft drinks, fruit juices, water, and milk. Labels on items made of polyethylene make it easier to separate the different kinds (such as PET, LDPE, and HDPE) for recycling.
	Vinyl Homeowners weary of painting their abodes often turn to exterior siding made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), better known as vinyl. Easy to clean, waterproof, and resistant to corrosion, vinyl is also used in car interiors and in the pipes that carry sewage away from buildings.
	Acrylics Water-resistant paints and varnishes derive from a family of synthetic polymers called acrylics. You can also paint yourself warm with acrylics: Spun acrylics find their way into fiberfill jackets and bedtime comforters.
	Neoprene Scuba divers often wear a second skin of neoprene, a tough synthetic plastic that keeps them warm and protects against razor-sharp urchin spines and coral.
	Polymers at War World War II pushed plastics production into high gear. Japanese submarines made it impossible for Allied nations such as Great Britain and the United States to import latex, the basis of most natural rubber, from Asian plantations. Industrial chemists rose to the challenge, devising economical means of producing synthetic rubber in huge volumes. They also created new polymers for use in airplanes, ships, and tanks under fire. Silk without silkworms? Practically. The plastic nylon replaced the silk in hosiery in 1938. Many of the airborne troops in World War II floated to earth beneath nylon parachutes. Other synthetic fibers such as polyester made the fashions of the 1970s possible.
	Polystyrene Polystyrene foam can be made into cartons to protect eggs or into packing "peanuts" to cushion fragile objects for shipping. It insulates, so folks put drinks in foam cups and coolers to keep the warm ones warm and the cold ones cold. Placed behind walls and ceilings in homes, polystyrene foam helps keep the weather outside at bay. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), gases that contain both chlorine and fluorine, were sometimes used to make foam products. Since the discovery that CFCs damage the earth's protective ozone layer, manufacturers have phased out their use in the creation of foam packaging and most other types of polystyrene foam.