Crossword clues for polystyrene
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context organic chemistry English) A vinylic polymer of styrene, CH2CHphenyl. 2 (context organic chemistry English) An alkane chain of benzene molecules, RCH2CHphenylR.
WordNet
n. a polymer of styrene; a rigid transparent thermoplastic; "expanded polystyrene looks like a rigid white foam and is used as packing or insulation"
Wikipedia
Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a rather poor barrier to oxygen and water vapor and has a relatively low melting point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, the scale of its production being several billion kilograms per year. Polystyrene can be naturally transparent, but can be colored with colorants. Uses include protective packaging (such as packing peanuts and CD and DVD cases), containers (such as "clamshells"), lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, and disposable cutlery.
As a thermoplastic polymer, polystyrene is in a solid (glassy) state at room temperature but flows if heated above about 100 °C, its glass transition temperature. It becomes rigid again when cooled. This temperature behavior is exploited for extrusion (as in Styrofoam) and also for molding and vacuum forming, since it can be cast into molds with fine detail.
Polystyrene is very slow to biodegrade and is therefore a focus of controversy among environmentalists. It is increasingly abundant as a form of litter in the outdoor environment, particularly along shores and waterways, especially in its foam form, and also in increasing quantities in the Pacific Ocean.
Polystyrene may refer to:
-
Polystyrene, the synthetic material
- Styrofoam, a brand of extruded polystyrene foam
- Poly Styrene (1957–2011), the stage-name of Marion Elliott Said, a Somali-British punk musician
- Sodium polystyrene sulfonate
- Calcium polystyrene sulfonate
Usage examples of "polystyrene".
She let that one go and busied herself with placing two tall polystyrene cups on the mat, together with a Bear Claw on a paper napkin.
Spotting the polystyrene cups on the mat, she went across to get a hot drink.
She removed a plastic sleeve of polystyrene coffee cups from the cabinet, and added it to the basket.
At some point the percolator had started perking, so Cate put some sugar in one of the polystyrene cups and poured coffee over it.
He just loved picturing her right here, with all her ambition, her energy, bent over, bottom in the air, picking up polystyrene cups and wadded napkins and used condoms and takeaway Chinese cartons .
On the glass-topped table separating them, a pile of polystyrene beefburger cartons, overflowing ashtrays and toppled beer cans bore witness to an evening of over-indulgence that had rendered the builder and his girlfriend bloated, tipsy and spoiling for a fight.
A large glass pot of coffee was stewing away on a hob, alongside a whole range of polystyrene cups, from two pints down to half a pint, depending on how awake you wanted to be.
Legs found a polystyrene box, which they broke up and stuffed down their smocks for buoyancy.
I went through and found myself in a windowless but brightly lit and attractive area of small tables and chairs, where several women sat drinking from polystyrene cups.
A model of a Gray alien stood in the corner, and obsessively detailed polystyrene hobby-kit flying saucers hung on black invisible threads from the ceiling, swaying erratically in the ventilator breeze.
I greedily absorbed the sight, which in truth was nothing more than a smooth metal bulge with a flat base, attached by three meters of electric cabling to a block of polystyrene cladding which I knew contained an instrument panel and a racked array of levers.
Chunks of shattered polystyrene swirled around her as though in atmosphere, a sight as flagrantly impossible as her spectacularly non-Newtonian arrival.
He asked Becky why she was disinclined to speak the word blood and to acknowledge that butchered and processed livestock continued to bleed into the polystyrene and plastic wrap of its commercial packaging material.
Where the terrain allowed, he crept out of the forest and down to the creek bank to examine the watercourse for the signs of human life that seemed to litter every creek and river in America: plastic bottles, polystyrene hamburger wrappers, and aluminum cans.
The conference table was piled with papers, site diagrams, photos, teletype messages, and a dozen very used polystyrene coffee cups.