The Polymer Explosion: Crash Course Engineering #20

We’re continuing our look at engineering materials with the third main type of material that you’ll encounter as an engineer: polymers. They’re made of long, repeating chains of smaller molecules known as monomers and today we’ll explore their strange history of polymers and the things that contributed to how we use them today.

Crash Course Engineering is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.

RESOURCES:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/12/how_high_can_a_fire_hose_shoot.html
https://www.britannica.com/science/polymer
http://www.pslc.ws/macrog/kidsmac/basics.htm
https://www.livescience.com/60682-polymers.html
https://www.britannica.com/science/copolymer
https://www.britannica.com/science/elastomer
https://www.cmu.edu/gelfand/education/k12-teachers/polymers/natural-synthetic-polymers/
http://pslc.ws/macrog/kidsmac/xlink.htm
https://www.britannica.com/technology/vulcanization
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https://www.britannica.com/science/polyvinyl-acetate
https://sciencebob.com/make-your-own-bouncy-ball/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/once-upon-time-exploding-billiard-balls-were-everyday-thing-180962751/
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https://www.britannica.com/science/polyethylene-terephthalate
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v11/29