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he clothes which we wear are made of fabrics. Fabrics are made from fibres obtained from natural or artificial sources. Can you name some natural fibres? Fibres are also used for making a large variety of household articles. Make a list of some common articles made from fibres. Try to separate them into those made from natural fibres and those made from artificial fibres. Make entries in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 : Natural and artificial fibres S. No. Name of Article Type of Fibre (Natural/ artificial)
(a)
(b)
Fig. 3.1 : (a) Beads and (b) paper clips joined to form long chains
Why did you label some fibres as artificial? You have read in your previous classes that natural fibres like cotton, wool, silk, etc., are obtained from plants or animals. The synthetic fibres, on the other hand, are made by human beings. That is why these are called synthetic or man-made fibres.
A synthetic fibre is also a chain of small units joined together. Each small unit is actually a chemical substance. Many such small units combine to form a large single unit called a polymer. The word polymer comes from two Greek words; poly meaning many and mer meaning part/unit. So, a polymer is made of many repeating units.
Polymers occur in nature also. Cotton, for example, is a polymer called cellulose. Cellulose is made up of a large number of glucose units.
B. Nylon Nylon is another man-made fibre. In 1931, it was made without using any natural raw material (from plant or animal). It was prepared from coal, water and air. It was the first fully synthetic fibre. Nylon fibre was strong, elastic and light. It was lustrous and easy to wash. So, it became very popular for making clothes. We use many articles made from nylon, such as socks, ropes, tents, toothbrushes, car seat belts, sleeping bags, curtains etc. (Fig. 3.3). Nylon is
Is nylon fibre really so strong that we can make nylon parachutes and ropes for rock climbing?
Fig. 3.4: Use of Nylon Fibres SYNTHETIC FIBRES AND PLASTICS 33
a pan so that weights can be placed in it. Add weights one by one till the thread breaks. Note down the total weight required to break the thread. This weight indicates the strength of the fibre. Repeat the same activity with threads of wool, polyester, silk and nylon. Tabulate the data as shown in Table 3.2. Arrange the threads in order of their increasing strength.
Fig. 3.4: Use of Nylon Fibres
also used for making parachutes and ropes for rock climbing (Fig. 3.4). A nylon thread is actually stronger than a steel wire. Let us find out.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Activity: 3.1
Take an iron stand with a clamp. Take a cotton thread of about 60 cm length. Tie it to the clamp so that it hangs freely from it as shown in Fig. 3.5. At the free end suspand You may use a hook or a nail on the wall for hanging the fibres and a polythene bag at the other end. In place of weights you may use marbles (or pebbles) of similar size. Precaution : Note that all threads should be of the same length and almost of the same thickness. C. Polyester and Acrylic Polyester is another synthetic fibre. Fabric made from this fibre does not get wrinkled easily. It remains crisp and is easy to wash. So, it is quite suitable for making dress material. You must have seen people wearing nice polyester shirts and other dresses. Terylene is a popular polyester. It can be drawn into very fine fibres that can be woven like any other yarn.
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Fig. 3.5: An iron stand with a thread hanging from the clamp. 34
My mother always buys PET bottles and PET jars for storing rice and sugar. I wonder what PET is !
PET is a very familiar form of polyester. It is used for making bottles, utensils, films, wires and many other useful products. Look around and make a list of things made of polyester.
Polyester (Poly+ester) is actually made up of the repeating units of a chemical called an ester. Esters are the chemicals which give fruits their smell. Fabrics are sold by names like polycot, polywool, terrycot etc. As the name suggests, these are made by mixing two types of fibres. Polycot is a mixture of polyester and cotton. Polywool is a mixture of polyester and wool.
did you observe? When you burn synthetic fibres you find that their behaviour is different from that of the natural fibres. You must have noticed that synthetic fibres melt on heating. This is actually a disadvantage of synthetic fibres. If the clothes catch fire, it can be disastrous. The fabric melts and sticks to the body of the person wearing it. We should, therefore, not wear synthetic clothes while working in in the kitchen or in a laboratory.
Oh! Now I understand why my mother never wears polyester clothes while working in the kitchen. All the synthetic fibres are prepared by a number of processes using raw materials of petroleum origin, called petrochemicals.
We wear sweaters and use shawls or blankets in the winter. Many of these are actually not made from natural wool, though they appear to resemble wool. These are prepared from another type of synthetic fibre called acrylic. The wool obtained from natural sources is quite expensive, whereas clothes made from acrylic are relatively cheap. They are available in a variety of colours. Synthetic fibres are more durable and affordable which makes them more popular than natural fibres. You have already per formed an activity of burning natural and synthetic fibres (Activity 3.6 of Class VII). What
SYNTHETIC FIBRES AND PLASTICS
Activity 3.2
Take two cloth pieces of the same size, roughly half a metre square each. One of these should be from natural fibre. The other could be a
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synthetic fibre. You can take help of your parents in selecting these pieces. Soak the pieces in different mugs each containing the same amount of water. Take the pieces out of the containers after five minutes and spread them in the sun for a few minutes. Compare the volume of the water remaining in each container. Do synthetic fabrics soak less/more water than the natural fabrics? Do they take less/more time to dry? What does this activity tell you about the characteristics of the synthetic fabrics? Find out from your parents about the durability, cost and maintenance of these fabrics, compared with the natural fabrics.
Plastic articles are available in all possible shapes and sizes as you can see in Fig. 3.7. Have you ever wondered how this is possible? The fact is that plastic is easily mouldable i.e. can be shaped in any form. Plastic can be recycled, reused, coloured, melted, rolled into sheets or made into wires. That is why it finds such a variety of uses.
3.4 Plastics
You must be familiar with many plastic articles used everyday. Make a list of such items and their uses. Plastic is also a polymer like the synthetic fibre. All plastics do not have the same type of arrangement of units. In some it is linear, whereas in others it is cross-linked. (Fig. 3.6).
(a)
Polythene (Poly+ethene) is an example of a plastic. It is used for making commonly used polythene bags.
Now, try to bend a piece of plastic yourself. Can all the plastic articles be bent easily? You will observe that some plastic articles can bend easily while some break when forced to bend. When we add hot water to a plastic bottle, it gets deformed. Such plastic which gets deformed easily on heating and can be
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bent easily are known as thermoplastics. Polythene and PVC are some of the examples of thermoplastics. These are used for manufacturing toys, combs and various types of containers. On the other hand, there are some plastics which when moulded once, can not be softened by heating. These are called thermosetting plastics. Two examples are bakelite and melamine. Bakelite is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. It is used for making electrical switches, handles of various utensils, etc. Melamine is a versatile material. It resists fire and can tolerate heat better than other plastics. It is used for making floor tiles, kitchenware and fabrics which resist fire. Fig. 3.8 shows the various uses of thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics.
Articles made of thermoplastics Fig : 3.8: Some articles made of plastic SYNTHETIC FIBRES AND PLASTICS
C. Plastics are poor conductors You have learnt above that plastics are poor conductors of heat and electricity. That is why electrical wires have plastic covering, and handles of screw drivers are made of plastic. As mentioned above, handles of frying pans are also made of plastic.
Did You Know? Plastics find extensive use in the health-care industry. Some examples of their use are the packaging of tablets, threads used for stitching wounds, syringes, doctors gloves and a number of medical instruments. Special plastic cookware is used in microwave ovens for cooking food. In microwave ovens, the heat cooks the food but does not affect the plastic vessel. Teflon is a special plastic on which oil and water do not stick. It is used for nonstick coating on cookwares.
Fire-proof plastics: Although synthetic fibre catches fire easily, it is interesting to know that the uniforms of firemen have coating of melamine plastic to make them flame resistant.
Table 3.3 Type of waste Peels of vegetable and fruits, leftover foodstuff, etc. Paper Cotton cloth Wood Woollen clothes Tin, aluminium, and other metal cans Plastic bags Several years Non-biodegradable 1030 days 2 to 5 months 10 to15 years About a year 100 to 500 years Biodegradable Biodegradable Biodegradable Biodegradable Non-biodegradable Approximate time taken to degenerate 1 to 2 weeks. Nature of material Biodegradable
Source: http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/solwaste/types.htm
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Since plastic takes several years to decompose, it is not environment friendly. It causes environmental pollution. Besides, the burning process in the synthetic material is quite slow and it does not get completely burnt easily. In the process it releases lots of poisonous fumes into the atmosphere causing air pollution. How can this problem be solved? Avoid the use of plastics as far as possible. Make use of bags made of cotton or jute when you go for shopping. The biodegradable and nonbiodegradable wastes should be collected separately and disposed off separately. Practise this in your homes. Can you suggest some other ways in which you can contribute towards reducing the use of plastic materials? It is better to recycle the plastic waste. Most of the thermoplastics can be recycled. Make a list of items that can be recycled. However, during recycling certain colouring agents are added. This limits its usage especially for storage of food. As a responsible citizen remember the 4 R principle. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover. Develop habits which are environment friendly.
Have you ever seen a garbage dump where animals, especially cows, are eating garbage? In the process of eating the food waste they swallow materials like polythene bags and wrappers of food. Can you imagine the consequences? The plastic material chokes the respiratory system of these animals, or forms a lining in their stomachs and can be the cause of their death. The polybags carelessly thrown here and there are responsible for clogging the drains, too. Sometimes we are very careless and throw the wrappers of chips, biscuits and other eatables on the road or in parks or picnic places. Should we not think twice before doing so ? As a responsible citizen what measures do you suggest to keep public places clean and free of plastic? Fibre-wise Do not throw plastic bags in the water bodies or on the road. Take a cotton carry-bag or a jute bag while going for shopping. Try to minimise the use of plastic materials e.g., use a steel lunch box instead of a plastic one.
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KEYWORDS
ACRYLIC ARTIFICIAL SILK NYLON PLASTIC POLYESTER POLYMER POLYTHENE RAYON SYNTHETIC FIBRES TERYLENE THERMOPLASTICS THERMOSETTINGPLASTICS
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Exercises
1. 2. Explain why some fibres are called synthetic. Mark ( ) the correct answer: Rayon is different from synthetic fibres because (a) (b) (c) 3. it has a silk like appearance it is obtained from wood pulp its fibres can also be woven like those of natural fibres
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words: (a) (b) (c) Synthetic fibres are also called ______ or _______ fibres. Synthetic fibres are synthesised from raw material called ________. Like synthetic fibres, plastic is also a __________ .
4. 5. 6.
Give examples which indicate that nylon fibres are very strong. Explain why plastic containers are favoured for storing food. Explain the difference between the thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics. Explain why the following are made of thermosetting plastics. (a) (b) Saucepan handles Electric plugs/switches/plug boards
7.
8.
Categorise the materials of the following products into can be recycled and cannot be recycled: Telephone instruments, plastic toys, cooker handles, carry bags, ball point pens, plastic bowls, plastic covering on electrical wires, plastic chairs, electrical switches.
9.
Rana wants to buy shirts for summer. Should he buy cotton shirts or shirts made from synthetic material? Advise Rana, giving your reason.
10. Give examples to show that plastics are noncorrosive in nature. 11. Should the handle and bristles of a tooth brush be made of the same material? Explain your answer. 12. Avoid plastics as far as possible. Comment on this advice.
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EXERCISES
13. Match the terms of column I correctly with the phrases given in column II. Column I (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Polyester Teflon Rayon Nylon (a) (b) (c) (d) Column II Prepared by using wood pulp Used for making parachutes and stockings Used to make non-stick cookwares Fabrics do not wrinkle easily
14. Manufacturing synthetic fibres is actually helping conservation of forests. Comment. 15. Describe an activity to show that thermoplastic is a poor conductor of electricity.
2.
3.
4. 5.
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