As a student, you may have come across a variety of adhesives, from sticky notes to glue sticks, and reached for them without much thought. Yet, understanding the properties and uses of adhesive can be critical, not just for students, but for anyone who works with or uses adhesives in everyday life.
To understand how adhesive works, it’s necessary to understand the basic chemistry behind it. Adhesive is a substance that can be applied to two objects, and holds them together by forming a bond or a connection between them. Adhesives can be solids, liquids, or gases, and most often work by forming chemical bonds between the surfaces they are applied to.
One of the simplest types of adhesives is glue, which is used for bonding paper, cardboard, and other porous materials. Glue is made from a variety of natural or synthetic polymers, which are substances made up of many repeating units. When glue is applied to a surface, the polymers in the glue penetrate the surface and begin to bond with the molecules within it.
Another common type of adhesive is tape, which is often used for securing objects to other surfaces, and for adhering paper and other light materials. Tape is typically made out of a thin, flexible material, such as plastic or paper, and has an adhesive coating on one side. The adhesive coating is usually made from a pressure-sensitive material, which means that it will stick to surfaces when light pressure is applied.
To teach students about adhesive, it’s important to start with the basics and explain the different types of adhesives and their uses. Hands-on activities that involve testing different adhesives can also be used to illustrate the properties of adhesives and how they work.
One example of a hands-on activity is to have students compare the bonding strength of different types of glue, such as white glue, super glue, and epoxy. Students can apply each type of glue to a surface and then test how much weight it can hold before it breaks.
Another activity could involve testing tape, where students can explore different types of tape and see which is the most effective for holding up lightweight objects like pictures or posters.
