Also known as paste or glue, this typically semi-liquied
invention bonds items together and is the base for almost millions of products
that exist today from labels stuck to bottles to car protection coatings –and
the list just keeps growing.Made from natural materials, the oldest know adhesive
dates back to approximately 200,000 BC when stone flakes were glued to wood
using tar secreted from the bark of the Birch tree to make spears.
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| Adhesive |
Aside from the obvious plant gum being used to create
adhesive, history tells us of several alternative materials that can also act
as glue. For example,egg whites were used in medieval Europe to decorate
parchments with gold leaf and these are patents for glue made out of horse
hooves, fish scales and even mammalian milk.
The miracle of glue
is its quick state changing property. For the uninitiated, when glue is applied
to an item, it easily gets into the microscopic pores of the object and changes
its from into solid there by attaching two different items. Science
aside,possibly the two best inventions that have come about as a result of
adhesive are Super glue and post- it notes. 3M, the manufacturer of post-its
has a staff of 67,000 employees globally –all of whom wouldn’t have a job if adhesive
didn’t exist.
