Starter 1.What does the word ‘synthetic’ mean? 2.What does the word ‘biodegradable’ mean? 3.From which material are all plastics made? 4.Give a use and a property of bakelite.

Properties of Plastics Aim of lesson: 1.Explain what the words ‘Thermoplastic’ and ‘Thermosetting’ mean. 2.Perform an experiment to demonstrate these properties. 3.Explain what the words ‘polymer’ and ‘monomer’ mean.

Thermoplastic and Thermosetting Plastics Thermoplastic plastics are those which soften on heating and so can be reshaped e.g. poly(ethene), poly(amide).

Thermosetting plastics are those which cannot soften on heating and cannot be reshaped e.g. bakelite, melamine.

Both type of plastics consist of long, tangled chains but in thermosetting polymers, there are links between the chains which gives a much more rigid structure.

Experiment Aim: To investigate whether plastic cutlery is Thermoplastic or Thermosetting. Method:

Results: What happened to the plastic cutlery?