In defense of NASA: was Re: Wirin' up blinkenlights

From: Richard Erlacher <richard_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Sat Jun 10 09:33:43 2000

Well, I don't know about how much sulphur is required, but quite a bit of
carbon-black is required to make the stuff sufficiently rigid and durable to
resist abrasion sufficiently for use in tires. Of course, that's not all it
takes, but the process was set in motion by accident, and that was Don's
point.

The Latex laced with carbon-black, and perhaps a bit of sulphur, after lots
of refinement, remained the preferred material for truck tires long after
the discovery of synthetic (styrene-butadiene) rubbers suitable for normal
automobile tires.

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: Carlos Murillo <cem14_at_cornell.edu>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2000 12:16 AM
Subject: Re: In defense of NASA: was Re: Wirin' up blinkenlights


> At 10:33 PM 6/9/00 -0700, you wrote:
> >And don't overlook one Charles Goodyear. If he had not accidentally
> >dropped a sample of latex laced with carbon black on a hot stove, we
> >might still be on wooden wheels with iron treads.
> >
> > - don
>
> Am I missing something? Isn't S+heat what is actually required
> for latex vulcanization? Or was that a particularly sulphur-rich
> carbon?
>
> carlos.
>
Received on Sat Jun 10 2000 - 09:33:43 BST