How do plastics stretch?
In: Physics
Simple question, complex answer. I guess the shortest answer that is most-est right would be:
Plastic is made up of long chains of molecules, all tangled together. When you pull on it they start lining up. Enough stay cross-linked to keep it in a sheet, but otherwise it stretches out (and gets a bit thinner). Think of it like a plate of spaghetti, look at what happens when you grab a couple of forks and ‘stretch’ the pile. Same thing`s happening in that plastic.
The complex bit – not all plastics are stretchy, some only stretch in one direction, some stretch only when warm… it gets pretty technical. I hope I`ve answered your question about that one type of plastic.
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