Outline

Alexa Fernanda Mejía Melo 4/10/2022

2221
Classmates
Ramiro Rivera, Danna Martinez, Alexa Mejía

Ideas
1- What is it?
2- Who made it?
3- What is it used for?
4- How was it made?

Script

Ramiro
A polymeric plastic made from phenol and formaldehyde, Bakelite was one of the earliest
synthetic materials to transform the material basis of modern life. It was named for its
inventor, Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863–1944), who discovered the durable plastic in 1907.
Baekeland’s inventive and entrepreneurial genius also propelled him into several other new
chemical technological ventures throughout his life.

Alex
Colorful objects made of Bakelite—jewelry, telephones, radios, and billiard balls, to name
just a few—brightened everyday life in the first half of the 20th century. Today these vintage
consumer goods are prized by antique dealers and collectors.

Danna
Baekeland investigated the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde.

Fernanda
His first objective was to find a replacement for shellac, which at that time was made from
the shells of Asian lac beetles. Chemists had begun to recognize that many of the natural
resins and fibers useful for coatings, adhesives, woven fabrics, and the like were polymers.
Although it was still unclear what the molecular structure of polymers might be, chemists and
others began to search for combinations of reagents that would react to form synthetic

Danna
polymers. by carefully controlling the pressure and temperature applied to an intermediate
made from the two reagents, he produced a polymer that when mixed with fillers, produced
a hard moldable plastic. Bakelite, though relatively expensive, was soon found to have many
uses, especially in the rapidly growing automobile and radio industries.

References
https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/leo-hendrik-baekeland
https://youtu.be/UPCFEoQUYaE

Video
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EHexH208y10GLJle1JOo0CcvAAW7kQl0/view?
usp=drivesdk