Click HERE to view the 2022-2023 Community Report

K-12 Categories

ACS: The Secret Science of Stuff - The Secret Science of Glue

How strong can glue be?

A super strong glue from a company called 3M was tested to see how much weight it could hold. The ends of two metal rods were glued together using 3M glue called Scotch-Weld Instant Adhesive. The rods were used to lift and hold up a forklift weighing 17,857pounds (over 8 tons) for one hour! The rods did not come apart.

So what’s tape?

Tape is made from a plastic strip with a special kind of glue sprayed onto it. This glue is not as liquidy as regular glue but still works with positive and negative charges. Tape is good for sticking stuff together but tape can also be used for art work and other cool stuff.

Can bad glue be good?

Yes. The famous removable sticky note is a great example. On a sticky note, the glue is sticky enough to make the note stay where you put it but not so sticky that it is hard to pick up. The special glue used for sticky notes forms tiny little balls called microspheres. They are the right size, number, and stickiness to make the note stick well enough but not too well.


Science Topics
Chemistry, Polymers
K-6
Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade
Descriptions of PDFs

Print this page

What are you looking for?

Organization

ACS (American Chemical Society)

Website URL

Type of Resource

Online Interactive Activity
PDF File

Assigned Categories

Resource k12

ACS: The Secret Science of Stuff - The Secret Science of Glue

How strong can glue be?

A super strong glue from a company called 3M was tested to see how much weight it could hold. The ends of two metal rods were glued together using 3M glue called Scotch-Weld Instant Adhesive. The rods were used to lift and hold up a forklift weighing 17,857pounds (over 8 tons) for one hour! The rods did not come apart.

So what’s tape?

Tape is made from a plastic strip with a special kind of glue sprayed onto it. This glue is not as liquidy as regular glue but still works with positive and negative charges. Tape is good for sticking stuff together but tape can also be used for art work and other cool stuff.

Can bad glue be good?

Yes. The famous removable sticky note is a great example. On a sticky note, the glue is sticky enough to make the note stay where you put it but not so sticky that it is hard to pick up. The special glue used for sticky notes forms tiny little balls called microspheres. They are the right size, number, and stickiness to make the note stick well enough but not too well.


Science Topics
Chemistry, Polymers
K-6
Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade
Descriptions of PDFs

Print this page

What are you looking for?

Organization

ACS (American Chemical Society)

Website URL

Type of Resource

Online Interactive Activity
PDF File

Assigned Categories