Chemistry Magic 165 



give good service to chemical processing plants; to oil, gas, 

 and water companies; and to innumerable general industries. 

 Of great importance is the fact that Saran pipe can be welded 

 in less than one minute. A workman merely places the pieces 

 to be welded on a hot plate heated to 350 to 400 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. When the ends get sticky he places the pieces 

 together and allows them to cool for ten seconds. After 

 twenty-four hours the joint strength is greater than that of 

 the pipe itself! Cheaper, better plumbing should be available 

 in the future because of this plastic pipe. 



The high-polymer plastics like Saran vary in physical form 

 from clear, hard, transparent glasses like polystyrene to soft, 

 elastic, film-forming materials and rubberlike products that 

 can be vulcanized. Polybutene, produced by Standard Oil 

 chemists from by-product gases of oil cracking, is used in 

 place of crepe rubber in coatings and adhesives. Most of these 

 plastic materials lack the bounce and elasticity of natural rub- 

 ber or neoprene, but they are taking over many jobs in the 

 industrial and military field. 



The Monsanto Chemical Company produced a plastic to 

 replace the rubber tires on industrial hand trucks and other 

 wheeled equipment. Scientists then made the mistake of try- 

 ing to test the plastic. They put it on steel testing equipment 

 to see how it compared with rubber. Before the plastic treads 

 showed any wear, the testing equipment gave out. 



Replacing Light Metals 



Tenite, a plastic made from cellulose acetate by the Ten- 

 nessee Eastman Corporation, can be extruded like toothpaste 

 from a tube, and then dries into a hard, wear-resisting mate- 

 rial. It is replacing light metals in furniture and wall trim. 

 Cellophane, also from cellulose, is used for containers which 

 replace metal cans. 



