what are plastic? mention it's characteristics . answer
Answers
Plastics are organic materials, just like wood, paper or wool. The raw materials used to produce plastics are natural products such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. The term ''plastic'' is derived from the Greek word ''plastikos'', meaning fit for moulding
Answer:
Plastics are a group of materials, either synthetic or naturally occurring, that may be shaped when soft and then hardened to retain the given shape. Plastics are polymers. A polymer is a substance made of many repeating units
Following are the characteristics of plastics:
Tensile strength: The tensile strength or the toughness of the plastics are dependent on the materials that are used in the production of the plastic. Usually, the tensile strength or the toughness of the plastics are less when compared to the alloys such as steel.
Lightweight: They weigh less than that of the metals which makes their transportation easy or carrying them from one place to another becomes easy.
Reactivity towards chemical: When plastics are compared with natural polymers such as cotton, wool, etc, plastics are not affected by the acids and alkalines.
Appearance: Usually plastics are transparent and can be coloured to desirable colours. Also, they can be moulded into shapes depending on their usages.
Thermal conductivity: The thermal conductivity of plastics is low. That’s the reason why they meltdown when they are brought in contact with the heat.
Electrical conductivity: Plastics are good insulators or bad conductors of electric current. This property or characteristic of plastic makes them popular in the manufacturing of switches, bulb-holders, the outer covering of the wires, etc.