Question

Explain the difference between thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics.

Answer 1

The difference between thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics;

Thermoplastics	Thermosetting plastics
1. A plastic polymer material that becomes moldable at certain high temperatures and then becomes solid after cooling	1. A polymer that irreversibly becomes rigid when heated
2. It has covalent bonds between monomers and weak van der Waal interactions between monomer chains	2. It has strong cross-links and a three-dimensional network of covalently bonded atoms. (stiffness of plastic increases with the number of cross-links in the structure)
3. Thermosetting plastics can be synthesized by addition polymerization.	3.Thermosetting plastics are synthesized by condensation polymerization.
4. It has a low melting point and tensile strength.	4. It has high melting points and tensile strength.
5. It has low stiffness, brittleness, rigidity, and durability	5. It had high stiffness, brittleness, rigidity, and durability.
6. Thermosetting plastics are lower in molecular weight, compared to thermosetting plastic.	6. This is high in molecular weight.
7. Polythene and nylon are the examples of thermoplastics	7. silicones, vulcanized rubber are examples of thermosetting plastics.