From DNA to Silly Putty, the diverse world of polymers - Jan Mattingly
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You are made of polymers, and so are trees and telephones and toys. A
polymer is a long chain of identical molecules (or monomers) with a
range of useful properties, like toughness or stretchiness --
and it turns out, we just can't live without them. Polymers occur both
naturally -- our DNA is a polymer -- and synthetically, like plastic,
Silly Putty and styrofoam. Jan
Mattingly explains how polymers have changed our world.
Clearly, synthetic polymers make our life easier, but their use has caused environmental problems. What ways can we reduce pollution problems caused by the overuse of synthetic polymers?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Jan Mattingly
- Producer TED-Ed
- Director Franz Palomares
- Animation Artist Godfrey Hibbert
- Narrator Michelle Snow
