on of hula-hoops.8
             Almost all plastics are derived from natural gas, coal, or petroleum. Chemists break down crude oil into simple molecules made of hydrogen and carbon atoms.9 They then string these molecules into long molecular chains, which is a relatively easy process. Hundreds or possibly thousands of carbon atoms are strung together and are surrounded by a compliment of other atoms. These monomers, small molecules, combine into polymers, repeating units of monomers, by a series of reactions that may occur spontaneously or may be directed by chemists. (Appendix B). Monomers bond into polymers by using single bonds that may not have anything attached to it, or by using single bonds that were made available for that use. Single bonds are the most stable of all the Carbon bonds because Carbon atoms are most at ease when its four bonds project in 4 different directions. Double or triple bonds are more unstable because the additional bonds would be more strained, thus making them more reactive. A single bond may be made available when a
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