the.com/elastomer
A polymer with a memory for its original shape and a flair for the dramatic stretch.
means A rubber-like material made of long polymer chains that can be stretched significantly and will snap back to its original form when released.
from Built from 'elastic' (from Greek 'elastikos,' relating to propulsion or drive, which came to mean springy/flexible in later scientific use) plus the suffix '-omer,' from Greek 'meros' meaning 'part' or 'share' — the same root found in 'polymer' (many parts). Chemists stitched the two together in the early 20th century to name this family of stretchy, chain-built materials: literally, 'parts that spring back.'
- the trick
- coiled molecular chains snap back after stretching
- everyday star
- rubber bands, tires, and phone cases all qualify
- chemistry cousin
- plastics stay deformed, elastomers bounce back
- breaking point
- stretch too far and chains tear, not recoil