eli5 why is plastic inorganic

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how is anything inorganic , if everything we have is from the earth itself and is therefore natural?
part 2 of the same question is why are somethings then non biodegradable?

In: Chemistry

7 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In Chemistry:

* Organic = molecules containing carbon-hydrogen bonds, typically forming carbon chains or rings.
* Inorganic = everything else.

In Chemistry terms, plastics are organic, since they are made from carbon chains containing hydrogen atoms.

A more ‘common use’ of the term Organic is ‘relating to or derived from living matter’. Under that definition, plastics are Inorganic.

Another meaning of Organic is something produced without artificial pesticides, fertilizers, etc. This doesn’t really relate to plastics.

Basically, plastics are organic materials in a Chemical sense. A lot of people confusingly (and mistakenly IMO) use organic to mean “natural” or not man-made and so might call plastic inorganic. But they’re wrong.

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