NEED wesites on the guy who made plastic and why he made plasticeasy 10pts !!!! for best onethis is for my hw assignment...thanx so much
The inventor of the first synthetic polymer (later known as plastic) was Leo Baekeland. He called his invention “Bakelite”. Baekeland worked as a chemist in New York. He came up with the polymer (a chemical compound or mixture of compounds) by mixing a disinfectant (carbolic acid) with a preservative (formaldehyde). These two substances mixed together turned into a substance that could be bent, twisted and molded in any number of ways. A Belgian-born chemist-entrepreneur, Baekeland had a knack for spotting profitable opportunities. The first truly synthetic plastic was invented by Leo Baekeland - a Belgium chemist living in New York. Baekeland was already very rich as he had invented the first commercially successful photographic paper and sold it to George Eastman in 1898 for $1 million. With such money, Baekeland could engage himself in whatever research he decided to do. In 1905, he found that when he combined formaldehyde and phenol, he produced a material that bound all types of powders together. He called this material Bakelite - after himself - and it was the first thermosetting plastic in the world. This was a material that once it set hard would not soften under heat. It had so many uses and so many potential uses, that it was called the material of a thousand uses. Bakelite was water and solvent resistant; could be used as an electrical insulator; was rock hard but could be cut by a knife and was used in 78 rpm records and telephones. New plastics were invented such as neoprene in 1932, polythene in 1933 and Perspex in 1934. One of the most famous wholly synthetic fibres was invented in 1938 at the cost of $10 million - nylon. In the first year of its creation, nylon went into toothbrush bristles and nylon stockings. 64 million pairs of stockings were made in 1938 alone. Nylon was also used by the military in World War Two for gearing wheels in vehicles and parachute cords. Plastic as a whole was very important in World War Two.
English inventor Alexander Parkes first invented plastic in 1855.
Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanization of rubber (1839) and Alexander Parkes, English inventor (1813—1890) created the earliest form of plastic in 1855.
The first truly synthetic plastic was invented by Leo Baekeland - a Belgium chemist living in New York. Baekeland was already very rich as he had invented the first commercially successful photographic paper and sold it to George Eastman in 1898 for $1 million. With such money, Baekeland could engage himself in whatever research he decided to do. In 1905, he found that when he combined formaldehyde and phenol, he produced a material that bound all types of powders together. He called this material Bakelite - after himself - and it was the first thermosetting plastic in the world. This was a material that once it set hard would not soften under heat. It had so many uses and so many potential uses, that it was called the material of a thousand uses. Bakelite was water and solvent resistant; could be used as an electrical insulator; was rock hard but could be cut by a knife and was used in 78 rpm records and telephones.
