What is Polystyrene?
Polystyrene is clear plastic or stiff foam, and is used mainly as an insulator in refrigerators and air conditioners with thermoplastic properties. In other words polystyrene is a cheap plastic with a thermoplastic polymer that can be molded into foam, and is, most likely, the second most common item you use in your everyday life style. Before polystyrene is molded into foam it is a clear and hard plastic, but when molded into foam, polystyrene is white and is used most commonly for packaging but have another half a million uses.
The uses of Polystyrene:
Polystyrene is a great substance that has revolutionised the way we live.
People walk by or use polystyrene without noticing everyday. Polystyrene is an insulator in our ovens, refrigerators and air conditioners.
Expanded polystyrene is used for roofs, walls and basements by builders. some companies order signs made from polystyrene because it's cheap and will last a few years outside in the open.
Even though our technology is great , polystyrene will still change the lives of people in the future for none of technology would be able to replace it.
The uses of Polystyrene:
Polystyrene is a great substance that has revolutionised the way we live.
People walk by or use polystyrene without noticing everyday. Polystyrene is an insulator in our ovens, refrigerators and air conditioners.
Expanded polystyrene is used for roofs, walls and basements by builders. some companies order signs made from polystyrene because it's cheap and will last a few years outside in the open.
Even though our technology is great , polystyrene will still change the lives of people in the future for none of technology would be able to replace it.
What led up to the invention of polystyrene and who discovered it?
In 1839 Eduard Simon (a German apothecary) discovered polystyrene by isolating it from other substances but did not know what he had discovered.
In 1930 scientists developed a way to commercially manufacture polystyrene, and in the same year Dr Sylvia Stosser found a way to commercially produce polystyrene at high purity at low cost.
In 1937 polystyrene was introduced to the U.S. and the government used every bit of polystyrene produced, they even used it homing devices and other equipment for the military.
In 1941 scientists invented a process in which polystyrene was extruded making a foam that resisted moisture, this foam was called Styrofoam.