2006-07-22 16:06:54 · 7 answers · asked by narcissa 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
It's a petroleum product.In other words,it comes from oil.At least that's what I was told,and it makes sense.What doesn't make sense is that gas comes from oil and is expensive.Plastic comes from oil and is still cheap.That's the point someone else was making,which is how I know it comes from oil.
2006-07-22 16:11:43 · answer #1 · answered by kimberli 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
there are lots of kinds of plastics
they are all carbon based polymers
the raw material usually comes from petroleum or natural gas but can also come from coal, wood, soybean oil, corn oil, etc
vinyl, a very common plastic, is made from ethane, a natural gas fraction, and salt
the salt is split to give cholorine, the ethane is cracked to ethylene and then there are several industrial process that end up with Poly Vinyl Chloride, called PVC or vinyl
music "records" used to be made of it
home siding is made of it
toys are made of it
lots of things are made of it
there are many other common plastics such as Poly-ethylene, Poly-Propylene, etc
AND most plastic costs more than gasoline even though gasoline is the expensive cut
a pound of PVC costs about 50 cents
a pound of gasoline, costs less than 40 cents
most plastics cost more than PVC
2006-07-22 23:15:42 · answer #2 · answered by enginerd 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
plastic plants. once they are harvested, the plastic that comes from those plants is then turned into everyday items. plastic plants are easy to keep as well. keep them dusted and they will flourish. i got one from walmart 20 years ago and it's still doing great! it's lost a little bit of its shine though. it's just a shame that our society needs to kill so many plastic plants just to make other things we don't really need.
2006-07-22 23:16:49 · answer #3 · answered by yer daddy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plastics are polymers which are either fully synthetic or semi-synthetic.
They are most commonly "made out of":
-Polyvinyl chloride
-Polyethylene
-Acrylic
-Silicone
-Urethane
-And other possiblities...
Aside from the above mentionned bases, they may contain other substances to alter a given characteristic such as strength, durability, color, etc.
2006-07-22 23:22:30 · answer #4 · answered by Zierra 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most plastic is petroleum based.
2006-07-22 23:11:34 · answer #5 · answered by damndirtyape212 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Polymerization
2006-07-22 23:13:16 · answer #6 · answered by donnamagreevy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oil.
2006-07-22 23:10:40 · answer #7 · answered by Phil S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋