Compound Chemical Formula

All the elements in this compound are oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. Poly methyl methacrylate is a compound with an ionic bond.  The compound is made through a synthetic process in which several Chemicals are used to Create PMMA. Acrylic comes from it last part methacrylate. PMMA is a strong light weight clear material with a density less than that of half of glass. PMMA ignites at exactly 460 °C and burns. This chemical reaction forms carbon dioxide, water, with carbon monoxide and low-molecular-weight compounds. The percentage of each element is listed: Hydrogen 10.616%, Carbon 47.339%, and Oxygen 42.044%.

 

 

How It is Created

PMMA is routinely produced by several different processes of polymerization. Generally, radical initiation is used, but anionic polymerization of PMMA can also be performed. To produce 1 kg of poly methyl methacrylate, about 2 kg of petroleum is needed. Poly methyl methacrylate produced by radical polymerization is atactic and completely amorphous. Amorphous means to be without shape or definite volume but in this context more specifically means or non-crystalline solid is a solid that lacks the long-range order characteristic of a crystal. The forming temperature starts at the glass transition temperature and goes up from there. All common molding processes may be used, including injection molding, compression molding, and extrusion. The highest quality PMMA sheets are produced by cell casting, but in this case, the polymerization and molding steps occur concurrently. The strength of the material is higher than molding grades owing to its extremely high molecular mass. Rubber toughening has been used to increase the toughness of PMMA owing to its brittle behavior in response to applied loads. PMMA Got its name due to the may it is made and its chemical structure.

Historical Understanding of the Molecule

 

The first acrylic acid was created in 1843. Methacrylic acid that came from acrylic acid was created in 1865. The chemical reaction between methacrylic acid and methanol results in the ester methyl methacrylate. In the year 1877 a German chemist Wilhelm Rudolph Fittig discovered the polymerization process that turned methyl methacrylate into polymethyl methacrylate. In the year 1933, the brand name Plexiglas was patented by another German chemist, Otto Rohm. In 1936 Imperial Chemical Industries began the first commercially viable production of acrylic safety glass. During World War II both Allied and Axis forces used the compound responsible for acrylic glass for submarine periscopes and aircraft windshields, canopies, and gun turrets. Airplane pilots whose eyes were damaged by flying shards of PMMA fared much better than those injured by standard glass, demonstrating the much-increased compatibility between human tissue and PMMA as compared to glass. After the war PMMA Then had commercial and civilian applications. PMMA is now sometimes used for safety glass and in many other unimaginable artistic ways. Acrylic glass is also used in many other places to hold in a giant body of water and give viewers full visibility of the surrounding environment allowing them to explore the unknown and currently displayed representation of the natural environment and its many ecosystems. Now acrylic glass is also used on riot shield windows and on windows of industrial vehicles that need serious protection from a very possible hostile outside environment. Some of PMMA’s must interesting use is as its use as an implant. This is due to PMMA being highly compatible to human tissue than actual glass. Medical science took full advantage of this and created many different medical uses for this compound. It can also be turned into contact lenses or as glasses. On 29 November 1949 at St Thomas Hospital, London, Ridley implanted the first intraocular lens at St Thomas’s Hospital in London. In particular, acrylic-type contact lenses are useful for cataract surgery in patients that have recurrent ocular inflammation otherwise known as uveitis, as acrylic material induce less inflammation.

Physical and Chemical Properties

 

Common names for the compound Poly (methyl methacrylate) are acrylic or acrylic, Plexiglas, Acrylate or Acrylite, Lucite, and Perspex.

The chemical formula of this compound is (C5O2H8)n

The melting point is 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius)

The boiling point is 392 degrees  Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius)

The Density of acrylic 1.18 g/cm³

Acrylic is a transparent thermoplastic. It is not toxic when used for directed and in atmosphere temperatures for effects on health. Acrylic is obtained from natural-gas and is completely static in its solid form and it won’t yellow in the sun.

Useful Applications

Being transparent and durable, PMMA is a versatile material and used in a wide range of fields and applications such as: rear-lights and instrument clusters for vehicles, appliances and lenses for glasses. PMMA in the form of sheets affords shatter resistant panels for building windows, bullet proof security barriers, displays, sanitary ware, LCD screens, furniture and many other applications. It used for coating polymers based on MMA provides outstanding stability against environmental conditions with reduced emission of VOC. Methacrylate polymers are used especially in medical and dental applications where purity and stability are critical to performance.

Uses in Medicine

• PMMA is very compatible with humantissue, and it used in the manufacture of rigid intraocular lenses which are implanted in the eye when the original lens has been removed in the treatment of cataracts.
• Inorthopedic surgery, PMMA bone cement is used to affix implants and to remodel lost bone.

 Artistic and aesthetic uses

• Acrylic paintessentially consists of PMMA suspended in water; however since PMMA is hydrophobic, a substance with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups needs to be added to facilitate the suspension.
• Modern furnituremakers, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, seeking to give their products a space age aesthetic, incorporated Lucite and other PMMA products into their designs, especially office chairs. Many other products are sometimes made with acrylic glass to make the commonly opaque objects translucent.

Other Uses

• Sheets of PMMA are commonly used in the sign industry to make flat cut out letters in thicknesses typically varying from 3 to 25 millimeters.
• PMMA was used in Laserdiscoptical media.
• In semiconductorresearch and industry, PMMA aids as a resist in the electron beam lithography
• PMMA is used as a shield to stop beta radiation emitted from radioisotopes.
• PMMA has also been used extensively as a hybrid rocket
• Artificial fingernails are sometimes made of acrylic.

 

Impact on the world

Poly (methyl methacrylate) has made a historical impact and in technological general advances that include but are not limited to Medicine, through the many applications it has had on humans with the restoration of vision and also in bone cement. PMMA has allowed many people the opportunity to see and experience the world without visual impairment, or restrictive and painful movement. As well PMMA can also be used to explore some regions that would have been very different to explore without such as underwater site seeing through the many different aquariums around the world. As well PMMA can be used as a window in underwater or submerged vessels thanks to the quality of its high strength and density. You can imagine how all of these different factors has helped mold the modern world. Imagine more visually physically challenged people on the street and fewer treatments for people with bone injuries. As well as having a different experience at an aquarium. PMMA is a versatile and very useful compound for which many people take for granite due to how available it is and lack of knowledge on this compound. Next time a diver submerges 20 feet under water with a curtain of Poly (methyl methacrylate) protecting them from the surrounding water, remember that this was only possible thanks to scientific achievements and human curiosity and it’s  what drives people to make the world a better place.

Bibliography

“Acrylic : Applications.” – PMMA Polymethyl Methacrylate Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2016.  <http://www.pmma-online.eu/applications&gt;.

Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA).” PlasticsEurope. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2016.     <http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic/types-of-plastics-11148/engineering-plastics/pmma.aspx&gt;.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA).” Encyclopedia Britannica    Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 6 May 2016. <http://www.britannica.com/science/polymethyl-methacrylate&gt;.

The Skeletal System

The Skeletal System is a system of bones and joints that serve as a frame for the human body and supports it. Each bone is a part of the human organism made of protein fibers, cells, and several minerals. The skeleton also serves a purpose of defense as it protects the soft organs and tissues contained within the human body. Skeletal muscles serve the purpose of moving the bones within the human body. Joints allow your body to bend and change shape with certain limitation. New red blood cells produced in the bone within red bone marrow. The skeleton is made up of 206 bones although humans are bone with 270 bones when these bones fuse the average human adult will have the standard 206 bones.While they become brittle when outside of the body, bones are very much alive inside the body, being fed by a network of blood vessels from the circulatory system and nerves from the nervous system. A typical bone has a dense and tough outer layer. Next is a layer of spongy bone, which lighter and slightly flexible. In the middle of some bones is jelly-like bone marrow, where new cells being produced continuously for blood. Teeth considered part of the skeletal system, but they can’t as a bone. A typical bone has a dense and tough outer layer. Next is a layer of spongy bone, which lighter and slightly flexible. In the middle of some bones is jelly-like bone marrow, where new cells continually produced for blood.

Muscular System

The 650 muscles in the body not only support the movement, controlling walking, talking, sitting, standing, eating and other daily functions that people consciously perform but also help to maintain posture and circulate blood and other substances throughout the body, among other functions. Skeletal muscles are the only voluntary muscle tissue in the human body and control every action that a person consciously performs. Most skeletal muscles are attached to two bones across a joint, so the muscle serves to move parts of those bones closer to each other. Smooth muscle is found in organs such as the stomach and intestines, as well as in blood vessels. It’s called a smooth muscle because, unlike skeletal muscle, it does not have the banded appearance of skeletal or cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle found only in the heart is an involuntary muscle responsible for pumping blood throughout the body. The heart’s natural pacemaker made of cardiac muscle that signals other cardiac muscles to contract.

Nervous System

The Nervous system is a part of the human body that coordinates the body’s voluntary and involuntary movements. The nervous system also manages all of the body’s functions and keeps homeostasis. The nervous system is made up of a lot of nerves which are neurons and axons that are in bundles of fibers that come from the brain and spinal cord that are all over the body. Neurons are cells that make up the nervous system and communicate via a synapse. Hundreds of different types of neurons exist in complex organisms like the human body. The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that consist of the brain and the spinal cord. The central nervous system receives and sends information the nerves in other parts of the human body. All information must go through the central nervous system to arrive to the brain. The brain protected by the skull and the spinal cord is protected by the vertebrate. The peripheral nervous system is outside the central nervous system and transmits the information to the cells in the body from the brain. Theses transmitter’s include neurons.