Plastics and rubbers

The peculiar properties of natural and artificial plastics.

Still of Lawrence Bragg
Image credit: Royal Institution

Lawrence Bragg first compares naturally and artificially produced plastics and describes their structure. Demonstrations illustrate how simple molecules, by chemical reaction, are transformed into macro-molecules. This section of the film concludes with an experiment showing the manufacture of plastic. The construction of rubber is then described, its nature being illustrated both experimentally and with the aid of models.

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