Construction
Nathen, Alex
History
Over many years there have been multiple advancements in the construction of houses and buildings. In this century most buildings are constructed with steel, windows, and paint. Before those products were available most buildings were built out of wood or clay. Windows were not common and it was hard to make them tinted. Natural resources were a more typical source for construction because you could usually grow the resources and have a plentiful supply. But due to advancements in society clay building turned to concrete building lined with steel and houses became more rigid with by building a wood frame
Steel
Steel is made from iron. "Steel can be described in general terms as iron with most of the carbon removed, to make it tougher and more ductile" (steelconstruction). Chemicals used in making steel are manganese, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, boron, titanium, vanadium, tungsten, cobalt, niobium and sometimes in addition they add phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, and traces of oxygen, nitrogen, and copper (acs). steel started to develop 4000 years ago during the Iron Age. they used bronze before they discovered that iron was stronger than bronze. In the 17th century they started understanding iron. In the 18th century they anted more iron. finally in "1856 when Henry Bessemer developed an effective way to use oxygen to reduce the carbon content in iron: The modern steel industry was born."(about). Steel is 100% recyclable (bssa). steel is recyclable and used to keep the earth clean. Steel can help with air pollution because its in many air filters such as "New catalytic converters use stainless steel for the holding and transportation of catalytic substances." (bssa).
Windows
Windows are made from glass because glass is unaffected by UV rays that come from the sun(quora). Glass last more than a 100 years(quora). Glass is made from liquid sand and when heated it turns into "amorphous solid" which is "a solid and a liquid with some of the crystalline order of a solid and some of the molecular randomness of a liquid" (explainthatstuff). Glass used to be such a precious item that only wealthy people owned glass (apartmenttherapy). during the Roman Era when lots of house had glass windows made from "panes of glassy pebbles laid on a wooden frame — these would let some light through, but probably weren't that transparent" (apartmenttherapy). windows started advancing over the years "In the 14th century, French glassblowers developed the process known as crown glass, where a hollow bubble of glass was then centrifugally spun into a flattened disc" (apartmenttherapy). In the 19th century the windows became bigger flatter using various techniques. British were using latest materials in the glass greenhouses (apartmenttherapy). Glass is not supposed to be put in a recycling bin. "Some companies accept broken glass and use it to make asphalt or other building materials. If you have large pieces of glass, try to track down local artists who work with glass"(jeld-wen).
Paint
Paint is made by pigments and powders that stick together, high speed mixers combine the mixer and disperse most pigments, while the mixer is running they slowly pour in the pigments, the last part they add in is resin, solvent and additives which is called the "let-down"; after all the mixing they run test the product (resene). Chemicals in paint are "pigments,binder,extender,solvent,hydrocarbons,additives, resin and solvent"(essentialchemicalindustry). " The first recorded paint mill in America was reportedly established in Boston in 1700 by Thomas Child" (paint). in 1880 paint factories started popping up (paint). the paint business grew because people wanted there hoses and goods to be painted and made beautiful (paint). paint is dissposed by people recycling and donating.
Comparison Between Chemically Engineered and Natural Material
Steel is good for building tall structures like offices or skyscrapers, but wood is commonly used in building the structure of a house or used for wood floors. chemically engineered materials can be more useful because they can sometimes last longer, natural materials like wood are easier to get because it comes from trees and you can just grow more trees. Chemically made products and natural products both have their pro's and con's, but they are both used for specific things in structures.
Work Cited
http://www.cmog.org/article/chemistry-glass
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick-history-windowsretrospect-165008
http://en.jeld-wen.ca/blog/2014/07/23/how-do-i-dispose-of-a-broken-window/
https://www.quora.com/Why-are-windows-still-made-from-glass
http://www.explainthatstuff.com/glass.html
http://www.keenovens.com/articles/steel-furnance.htm
http://www.bssa.org.uk/sectors.php?id=99
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cen-v022n018.p1555
http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Steel-History.htm
http://www.resene.co.nz/whatispaint.htm
http://www.essentialchemicalindustry.org/index.php
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a24186/throwing-out-paint/