Childhood
Wallace Carothers was born in Burlington, Iowa, on the 27th of April, 1896, (Groler Multimedia, 1995, p.1) to parents Ira and Mary (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85).
His father ,Ira Hume Carothers, was a teacher at a local university and later became Vice President of it (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85,86)(Daintith and Gjertsen, 1996, p.107).
His mother was Mary Evelina Carothers, a home maker (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85).
He was the oldest of four children (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85).
Early Adult Life
Wallace attended Capital City Commercial College before attending Tarkio Collage in 1915. To support his education Wallace taught courses at Tarkio including Accounting, English, and Chemistry. Then he attended the University of Illinois earning a Masters Degree (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85).
Wallace published four papers between 1923 and 1927. His most famous paper is on the electronic nature of double bond. His papers have been gathered and re published as Collected Papers of Wallace H Carothers on Polymerization in 1940 (Boorstin and Olendorf , 1997, p.86)
While publishing his papers he earned a Doctorate Degree at Urbana University in 1924 (Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.85)
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Adult Life
After graduating from Urbana, Carothers taught at the University of South Dakota as instructor of organic chemistry. Two years later, in 1926, Carothers accepted a like position at Harvard University. After two years of teaching, Wallace then moved to the du Pont Company ( Boorstin and Olendorf, 1997, p.86)
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Dr. Daniel J. Boorstin (1914- ) holds many honorable positions and has received numerous awards for his notable work. He is one of America's most eminent historians, the author of more than fifteen books and numerous articles on the history of the United States, as well as a creator of a television show. His editor-wife, Ruth Frankel Boorstin, a Wellesley graduate, has been his close collaborator. ...
du Pont de Nemours
In 1928 Carothers joined the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. He led a group of organic researchers and was head of an innovative program of basic research lab in Wilmington, Delaware.
Discoveries
His first discovery was synthetic rubber in 1931 (Daintith and Gjertsen, 1996, p.108)
Nylon
Nylon is a polymer, a substance made up of repeating chemical units linked together in a long chain (Day, 1994, 9.06-1).
Materials
Carothers used two chemicals hexanedioyl dichloride and hexamethylenediamine which reacted with one another to make nylon(Day, 1994, p. 9.06-1 and 2).
A long with coal, water, air, petroleum, adipic acid, and natural gas (Nylon, 1956, p.5819)
How Nylon is made
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Combining the two chemicals together forms what is called nylon salt. Then the nylon salt is mixed with the adipic acid and placed into a machine called an autoclave. Then the mixture is heated under pressure, so that the molecules which make up each of the chemical combinations will combine into larger molecules. This process is called polymerization. At the end of this step, the melted nylon comes out of the machine as a ribbon. This is chilled and hardened on a metal roller. Then it is cut into chips. These chips are used to make nylon fiber. The chips are heated until they are melted. This process is done over a heating grid covered by inert gas to keep oxygen away from the nylon. When it becomes liquid it is pumped through the tiny holes of a device called spinnerets. The thread hardens as soon as it hits the air andis wound up on a spool.
Nylon is cold-drawn after it is made into yarn. The cold-drawing process makes a great change in the structure of the yarn filaments. Up until this time the threadlike molecules which make up the nylon filament have been widely spaced and lying in a chance arrangement. When the thread is drawn, or stretched, the molecules fall into six lines in parallel order. This makes the thread capable of being stretched to form four to seven times its length and greatly increased the elasticity of the fiber. The cold-drawing process is carried out by unwinding the filament from one spool and winding it on to another in such a way as to make the winding-up rate four or more times as fast as the unwinding rate. The pull between the spools stretches the yarn.
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The size of the yarn depends on its original size and degree of stretching.
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If the yarn is drawn to four times its original length, its diameter is only half its original diameter (Nylon, 1956, p.5819-5820)
Uses
Nylon can be used in many different things, such as gear wheels, bearings for machines, combs, fishing line, surgical stitched, twisted into yarn, insulate electrical wires, to form bristles in brushes, women?s stockings, parachute canopies, airplane tires, artificial joints, bulletproof vests (Day, 1994, 9.06-1),Umbrellas, shower curtains, rain coats, food covers, underwear, bathing suits, and lace (Nylon, 1956, p. 5819)
Qualities
Nylon has some amazing qualities; for example, it Resists stretching and rubbing it does not rot easily it only burns and melts at very high temperatures it does not absorb water it is resistant to chemicals (Day, 1994, p.9.06-1)(Nylon, 1994, p.502), oil, greases, household cleaners, and laundered nylon dries faster (Nylon, 1956, p.5819)
The Last years
After his big success in discovering nylon Carothers married Helen Evert Sweeten on February 21, 1936, at the age of 40. One year later a daughter, Jane Carothers, was born on November 27, 1937. Wallace continued to work at the du Pont Company until his death April 29, 1937. He was only 41.
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He had a long history of depression even after his great success. He never lived to see his invention mass produced or even named. The only satisfaction he had was the fact that he was elected to the National Academy of Science for the discovery of a long-time problem: finding a cheaper alternate to silk spun by silk worms (Boorstin and Olendorf,
1997, p.85)
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