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What do you think life would be like without rubber products, such as tires,
which we use Charles Goodyear was born December 29, 1800 in New Haven, Connecticut. When he was thirty-four years old, he was put in prison because he had a five dollar hotel debt that he couldn't pay off. While he was in prison he asked his wife to bring a batch of India rubber and a rolling pin. When she brought it to him, he started working on experiments with the rubber, but couldn't do too much without a lab. After he got out of prison he continued to work on his rubber experiments. Goodyear was inspired to experiment on rubber because he didn't like it that when he was little and went outside to play on a hot and sunny day the soles of his shoes would melt. It would be hard to run because of the rubber melting and sticking to the ground. In the winter the rubber soles would get brittle and hard.
The problem with the India rubber was that it would melt in the hot and get brittle and crack in the cold. Charles tried to get a solution to mix with the India rubber so it would not get so soft and sticky when it was hot and brittle when it was cold. One of the things he was mixing with the India rubber was sulfur since he thought this might solve the problem. One night Charles was standing over a red hot stove with a piece of India rubber mixed with sulfur in his hand while he was talking to his brother, Miles. Charles accidentally dropped the piece of rubber onto the stove. To Charles' and Miles' surprise, instead of the rubber melting and getting all sticky, it just flattened out on the stove. That night Charles hung the piece of rubber outside. When he woke up, he found that the rubber still had the same rubbery texture and that it stayed that way even when it was heated or chilled. He kept working on experiments until his neighbors complained about the smell. When he melted the rubber, the rubber would smell like something burning. His family decided to move to New York, where he could have his own space for his laboratory on the fourth level of his house. Improvements to Rubber He ran out of money for his experiments and had to sell all his belongings, like his watch, furniture, and dishes to get money for his experiments. He then started to make rubber plates, hats, and ties. One day he ran out of rubber, so he went to work for a man named Nathaniel Hayward. Nathaniel had invented rubber and Charles was able to work with him. Charles bought a patent from Nathaniel. A patent is a license to use an invention. He worked with Nathaniel for a while and continued to improve vulcanized rubber. Charles had discovered the vulcanization of rubber, which allowed rubber to not harden in the cold and not melt or get sticky in hot weather. Charles always wanted to make rubber hulls on boats and invent useful things made with rubber, but he never got to. Even though he made rubber useful, he did not live long enough to make money from his invention. Charles Goodyear died July 1st, 1860 at the age of sixty. Charles died a poor
man. He was $200,000 in debt at his death, but his family was able to Charles Goodyear never got to see the company which would make his name famous as one of the best tire makers in the world. Vulcanized rubber proved to be the perfect material for tires to go on automobiles, which were developed after his death. As automobiles gained in popularity it was important to have tires which were soft enough to have a smooth ride, but strong enough not to wear out after only a short time. Goodyear Tires were later named after Charles because he was the person who invented vulcanized rubber. He became famous after his death for his invention. Charles Goodyear Timeline
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on cars, airplanes, bicycles and other types of vehicles? Our
transportation would be very different. We could not go anywhere too fast.
Rubber tires that fit onto wheels rotate on our different vehicles and are part
of what make them able to move so quickly. Without tire swings, bikes, or roller
blades, life would be very boring and not as much fun. We wouldn't have shoes
and boots with rubber soles that are less slippery. We wouldn't have rubber hair
ties and rubber bands. Fortunately, a man named Charles Goodyear came along and
discovered a process named vulcanization which changed peoples' lives.
pay the
debt off later with the money made from his vulcanized products.