Plastic+Manufacturing+Methods

Plastic is a common name for Polymers: materials made of long strings of carbon and other elements. Each unit in a string is called a monomer, and is a chemical usually derived from oil. The monomer is made into polymer by chain-linking reactions. This is like making a daisy chain. Instead of flowers, carbon atoms are joined together. The appearance of the daisy chain will be different if you use different coloured flowers, and so will polymers. There are many different types of plastic, depending on the starting monomer selected, the length of polymer chains, and the type of modifying compounds added. Each plastic has been developed for a special purpose. There are two main types of plastic:
 * What is plastic?**
 * **Thermoplastics** such as polystyrene, polythene and acrylic which soften when heated and harden with cooling and can be recycled
 * **Thermosets** such as epoxies, polyester resin and melamine that can only be moulded once, they cure or harden when heated
 * //Key Points//**