Before Charles Goodyear made his path-breaking discovery, rubber wasn’t very useful for
practical purposes. It was too sticky while it was hot and too brittle and hard while it was
cold. Goodyear had been trying for several years to create a more useful rubber and it was a
lucky accident when he finally realised how. He dropped a mixture of rubber, sulphur and lead
onto a hot stove. The heat transformed this mixture into a hardened substance – the beginnings of what we now call vulcanised rubber (used in shoes, tyres etc). Subscribe to Child Project Helper by Email
practical purposes. It was too sticky while it was hot and too brittle and hard while it was
cold. Goodyear had been trying for several years to create a more useful rubber and it was a
lucky accident when he finally realised how. He dropped a mixture of rubber, sulphur and lead
onto a hot stove. The heat transformed this mixture into a hardened substance – the beginnings of what we now call vulcanised rubber (used in shoes, tyres etc). Subscribe to Child Project Helper by Email
