Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules. Polymers abound in nature. Cellulose, the material that makes up the cell walls of plants, is a very common natural polymer.
Over the last century and a half humans have learned how to make synthetic polymers, sometimes using natural substances like cellulose, but more often using the plentiful carbon atoms provided by petroleum and other fossil fuels. Synthetic polymers are made up of long chains of atoms, arranged in repeating units, often much longer than those found in nature. It is the length of these chains, and the patterns in which they are arrayed, that make polymers strong, lightweight, and flexible. In other words, it’s what makes them so plastic.
These properties make synthetic polymers exceptionally useful, and since we learned how to create and manipulate them, polymers have become an essential part of our lives. Especially over the last 50 years plastics have saturated our world and changed the way that we live.
The First Synthetic Plastic
The first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt, who was inspired by a New York firm’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put a strain on the supply of natural ivory, obtained through the slaughter of wild elephants. By treating cellulose, derived from cotton fiber, with camphor, Hyatt discovered a plastic that could be crafted into a variety of shapes and made to imitate natural substances like tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory.
This discovery was revolutionary. For the first time human manufacturing was not constrained by the limits of nature. Nature only supplied so much wood, metal, stone, bone, tusk, and horn. But now humans could create new materials. This development helped not only people but also the environment. Advertisements praised celluloid as the savior of the elephant and the tortoise. Plastics could protect the natural world from the destructive forces of human need.
The creation of new materials also helped free people from the social and economic constraints imposed by the scarcity of natural resources. Inexpensive celluloid made material wealth more widespread and obtainable.
"<span>b. The improvements in productivity in early agricultural societies enabled more complex societies to develop" would be the best option, since they had a surplus of food--meaning that people could focus on other jobs.</span>
In the 1830s, inventions such as the mech cut cleanly through sod allowed settlers in the Clear land and harvest with more grain.
<u>Explanation:
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The invention that allowed to cut the crop right from close to the sod allowed the farmers to have more of the crop stem for the purpose of threshing.
The ease in threshing helped gain more yield from the crop.
The cutting done right through the sod not only cleared the land of the crop, but also allowed the farmers to use the land for other purposes for the rest of the year.
The correct answer is <em>D. Image A: dual federalism; Image B: cooperative federalism.
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Cooperative federalism is a political system where the line that divides the responsibilities and faculties of the federal government and the state governments is not clear. Dual federalism is a system where the responsibilities and faculties of the federal government and the state governments are clearly defined.
The rigid structure of Dual federalism has horizontal power between national and state governments. It also respects sovereignty in their fields and promotes competition. The structure of Cooperative federalism has a vertical power between national and state governments, it is more flexible and promotes cooperation.
