Formica (plastic)

Formica laminate is a brand of composite materials manufactured by New Zealand-based Formica Group. The material was invented in 1912, and is manufactured for a variety of applications today. In common use, the word Formica refers to the company's classic product, a heat-resistant, wipe-clean, plastic laminate of paper or fabric with melamine resin.

Formica Group, a division of the New Zealand company Fletcher Building, consists of Formica Canada, Inc., Formica Corporation, Formica de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Formica IKI Oy, Formica Limited, Formica S.A., Formica S.A.S., Formica Taiwan Corporation, Formica (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Formica (Asia) Ltd., among others.

Invention

Formica laminate was invented in 1912 by Daniel J. O'Conor and Herbert A. Faber, while working at Westinghouse. They filed for a patent on it on 1 February 1913. They originally conceived it as a substitute for mica used as electrical insulation, made of wrapped woven fabric coated with Bakelite thermosetting resin, then slit lengthwise, flattened, and cured in a press. They left Westinghouse immediately afterwards.

Plastic

Generic term used in the case of polymeric material that may contain other substances
to improve performance and/or reduce costs.

Note 1: The use of this term instead of polymer is a source of confusion and thus is
not recommended.

Note 2: This term is used in polymer engineering for materials often compounded that
can be processed by flow.

Plastic is a material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organics that are malleable and can be molded into solid objects of diverse shapes. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, but many are partially natural.Plasticity is the general property of all materials that are able to irreversibly deform without breaking, but this occurs to such a degree with this class of moldable polymers that their name is an emphasis on this ability.

Due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, and imperviousness to water, plastics are used in an enormous and expanding range of products, from paper clips to spaceships. They have already displaced many traditional materials, such as wood, stone, horn and bone, leather, paper, metal, glass, and ceramic, in most of their former uses. In developed countries, about a third of plastic is used in packaging and another third in buildings such as piping used in plumbing or vinyl siding. Other uses include automobiles (up to 20% plastic), furniture, and toys. In the developing world, the ratios may be different - for example, reportedly 42% of India's consumption is used in packaging. Plastics have many uses in the medical field as well, to include polymer implants, however the field of plastic surgery is not named for use of plastic material, but rather the more generic meaning of the word plasticity in regards to the reshaping of flesh.

Plastic (Joey Tafolla album)

Plastic is the third studio album by guitarist Joey Tafolla, released on July 16, 2001 through Mascot Records.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Joey Tafolla and Ken Tamplin. 

Personnel

References

Plastic (Mitsuki Aira album)

Plastic, stylised as PLASTIC, is the second album by the Japanese artist Mitsuki Aira. It was released July 22, 2009, and contains the singles "Robot Honey", "Sayonara Technopolis" and "Barbie Barbie". This is her current best-selling album according to Oricon.

Editions

The album was released as a regular album and two special editions, one of which contains a live DVD and the other a remix CD. Both additional discs contain eight tracks.

Track listing

Previous releases

The tracks "Robot Honey", "Sayonara Technopolis" and "Barbie Barbie" were released as singles prior to Plastic, while "Knee-high Girl", "Change My Will", "High Speed Sneaker" and "Distant Stars" appeared as b-sides.