Synthetic Fibres and Plastics

Synthetic fibres and plastics are made up of very large units called polymers, and polymers are made up of many smaller units.e.g. cotton is a polymer made up of cellulose and cellulose is made from large number of glucose units.

Advantages of artificial silk over silk are:

• Artificial silk or rayon is cheaper than silk,
• It can be dyed in a variety of colours
• It can be used to make bed sheets on mixing with cotton, and on mixing with wool can be used to make carpets.

The first fully synthetic fibre was nylon. It was prepared from coal, water and air. It is very strong, elastic and light, it is very easy to wash and used for making variety of things like socks, ropes, bags, curtains, parachutes etc.

The first fully synthetic fibre was nylon. It was prepared from coal, water and air. It is very strong, elastic and light, it is very easy to wash and used for making variety of things like socks, ropes, bags, curtains, parachutes etc.

Nylon thread is very strong infact it is stronger than steel wire, because of this property of nylon it is used for making parachutes and ropes for rock climbing.

Polyester fabrics do not get wrinkled easily and it remains crisp and can be washed easily than any other fabrics. Thus it is used to make dress, shirts etc. PET is one of the familiar form of polyester that is used to make bottles, utensils, wires and many other things

Terylene and PET are two widely used polyester fabrics. Terylene is used to make very fine yarn by which various dress materials are made. PET is one of the familiar form of polyester that is used to make bottles, utensils, wires and many other things

Acrylic fabric resembles wool, it is cheaper than wool and available is variety of colours. It is also more durable than wools

On burning a natural fibre while on burning a synthetic fibre the fabric melts rapidly and in case of synthetic clothes it sticks to the body of person wearing it and cause severe burn to that person, it is totally disastrous.

Synthetic clothes like polyesters on burning sticks to the body of person wearing it and cause severe burn to that person, it is totally disastrous.

Synthetic fibres are

• Less expensive than natural fibres
• Strong and long lasting
• Easily available
• Easy to maintain
• Dry up quickly

No, all plastics do not have same type of arrangement of units. In some plastics there are linear arrangement of units while in others there are cross linked arrangement of units

Plastics are

• Light weighted
• Cheaper than metals
• Strong and long lasting
• Easy to handle
• Non-reactive: they do not react with water or air, and do not get corroded easily
• Plastics can be moulded into different shapes and sizes
• They are easily mouldable and can be shaped in any form to make different articles.
• They are poor conductors of heat and electricity.
• Thus they are used on large scale in industries and for making household articles.

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are mouldable. Plastics are typically organicpolymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances too. Most plastics contain organic polymer, plastics are broadly classified into two types’ thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics.

Plastics are synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are mouldable. Plastics are typically organicpolymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances too. Characteristics of plastics:

• Plastics are light weighted thus are used in car, spacecrafts and aircrafts
• Plastics are strong, so can be used for storing and carrying various items
• Plastics are cheap and easy to handle
• Plastics are non-reactive
• Plastics are durable
• Plastics are poor conductor of heat and electricity

Handles of screw drivers are made of plastics because plastics are poor conductors of heat and electricity..

Plastics are used in healthcare industry for the following purposes:

• Packaging of tablets
• For making threads used for stitching wounds
• For making syringes
• Making gloves used by doctors
• For making many medical instruments

Special plastic cookware is used in microwave oven for cooking food, such that inside the oven the heat cook food but does not affect the plastic container containing food items to be cooked.

1. Biodegradable
2. non- biodegradable
3. non- biodegradable
4. Biodegradable

Products or articles that do not cause environmental pollution, and get burnt completely with releasing less poisonous fumes into the atmosphere are called environmental friendly products. They cause less harm to the environment and are thus called as eco- friendly products.

We should not throw polybags in the water bodies or on the road because animals like cow while eating garbage waste food items swallow the polythene bags and food wrappers, the plastic materials chokes the respiratory system of these animals and form a lining in their stomachs and may cause death of these animals.

Ways to reduce the use of plastic bags in our day to day life

• Avoid use of plastics as far as possible
• Use bags made from cotton or jute while going for shopping
• Try to recycle plastic wastes by returning them back to your grocery shop for recycling, and by using them as garbage bag liners.
• We can urge plastic manufacturers to develop biodegradable plastic.
• We can urge our legislators to ban plastic in children's toys and food and beverage containers.

The’’4R principle’’to develop environment friendly habits:

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Recover

Plastic is polymers like synthetic fibres, it is non-eco- friendly as it takes several years to decompose and it causes environmental pollution. When it burns it releases lot of poisonous fumes, and harmful gases into the atmosphere causing air pollution.

She should purchase cotton clothes for summer because it is very light fabric, easy to wear and air flow process is also good in cotton clothes so it keeps body cool during summer season.

Following examples show that plastics are non-corrosive in nature

1. They are used to store chemicals in laboratories as they don’t react with chemicals or other items in the laboratory.
2. Plastic does not decompose even when left in the open for a long period.
3. Plastic does not react even with air and water and so it dies not get rusted.
4. They are used to store all types of food, as plastic does not react to materials stored in it.

a. Plants b. Wood pulp c. coal water and air

Terylene is an artificial textile fibre made from polyester, it is used to make light, crease-resistant clothing, bed linen, and sails.

Rayon is the only synthetic fibre obtained from a natural source that is wood pulp, that’s why it is different from other fibres.

Following are the disadvantages of synthetic fibres

1. Synthetic fibres cannot absorb moisture. This makes them unsuitable to be warm during summer because in summer when our body sweats. These fibres make body sticky and sometimes cause skin irritation.
2. They are dangerous to be worn near fire or heat, as they easily catch fire and is unfit to be worm.
3. They cannot be easily ironed as they melt very easily.