Wikipedia's entry on "plastic" says "Synthetic rubbers are not plastics", however looking at the circumstances (Synthetic rubber has its own section in the plastic article; the claim is just a one-liner that contradicts the rest of the section; fact that synthetic rubber is hydrocarbon-based polymer; etc), it appears that that statement is fishy. We know Wikipedia can be a bit unreliable at times.
So... is rubber a type of plastic?
Additionally, what makes a rubber, a rubber?
or if that sounds too philosophical, what properties (chemical, physical, or otherwise) that allows us to classify a material as rubber. Likewise for other types of plastics too, if you know.
An article I found: http://www.plasticsindustry.com/synthetic-rubber.a... seems to say that rubber is plastic (and very confident about it); however, I want to double check before correcting the wikipedia article.
6 Answers
-
I'm pretty sure you're correct. Synthetic rubbers, organic rubbers, and plastics are all hydrocarbon polymers (generally created through alkene radical addition reactions).
-
Physically, i would say the difference between plastic and rubber is that rubber has the characteristics of elasticity, and shock absorption.
Plastic is a petroleum based product, and i think some times of synthetic rubber may be as well. Originally though, rubber was harvested from trees, which I'm pretty sure was very different from and most certainly not plastic.
-
Don't be confused, the terms are interchangeable today. Soft plastics are processed to be rubber like with or without a color.
Plastic as an adjective is usually used to describe a harder more rigid product.
Rubber as a adjective or rubbery an adverb is a soft flexible material.
Real rubber is the processed sap of the rubber tree. Real rubber can be processed with heat and chemicals to a soft flexible (rubbery) product or to a hard rigid (plasticized) rubber that may be what is refereed to as plastic or plasticized product.
Today they are almost exclusively made from processed oil/hydrocarbons.
Confusing ahhh.
-
It is and it isn't. It has similar chemical makeup, but a rubber as different properties. Synthetic rubber stretches without damaging for the most part. Plastics on the other hand stretch, but it doesn't return to it's original form. It is then damaged.
-
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Is rubber a type of plastic?
Wikipedia's entry on "plastic" says "Synthetic rubbers are not plastics", however looking at the circumstances (Synthetic rubber has its own section in the plastic article; the claim is just a one-liner that contradicts the rest of the section; fact that synthetic rubber is...
-
I think she'd look dandy "taxidermied". She's got zero talent, zero brain cells and zero personality. The one thing i will give her is that she's turned into a perfect replica of Barbie... which is very creepy in a lot of ways. So, let's put Barbie up in the dining room, next to the "don't worry be happy" fish and the deer head that Uncle George killed in '82! And if that's no good, let's just turn her into a candle and set her ablaze on a birthday cake for Ashlee's next birthday!