Pitch (resin)

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Pitch (resin)

Pitch is the name for any of a number of highly viscous

Viscosity

Viscosity is a measure of the Drag of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness"....
liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....
s which appear solid

Solid

A solid object is in the states of matter characterized by resistance to deformation and changes of volume. In other words, it has high values both of Young's modulus and of shear modulus; this contrasts e.g....
. Pitch can be made from petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
products or plants. Petroleum-derived pitch is also called bitumen

Bitumen

Bitumen is a mixture of organic compounds liquids that are highly viscous, black, sticky, entirely soluble in carbon disulfide, and composed primarily of highly condensed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons....
. Pitch produced from plants is also known as resin

Resin

Resin is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly Pinophyta. It is valued for its chemical constituents and uses, such as varnishes and adhesives, as an important source of raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume....
. Products made from plant resin are also known as rosin

Rosin

Rosin, formerly called colophony or Greek pitch , is a solid form of resin obtained from pines and some other plants, mostly Pinophyta, produced by heating fresh liquid resin to vaporize the volatile liquid terpene components....
.

Tar pitch appears solid, and can be shattered with a hard impact, but it is actually fluid. Pitch flows at room temperature, but extremely slowly.

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Encyclopedia

Pitch is the name for any of a number of highly viscous

Viscosity

Viscosity is a measure of the Drag of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear stress or extensional stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness"....
liquid

Liquid

Solid

Petroleum

Bitumen

Resin

Rosin

Pitch drop experiment

The pitch drop experiment is a long-term experiment which measures the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. Pitch is the name for any of a number of highly Viscosity liquids which appear solid, most commonly bitumen....
taking place at University of Queensland

University of Queensland

The University of Queensland is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. The University is a founding member of the national Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong, mostly "Sandstone universities" committed to ensuring that Australia has higher education institutions which are genuinely world class....
is a long-term experiment which measures the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. For the experiment, pitch was put in a glass container with a hole in the bottom, and allowed to slowly drip out. Since the pitch was allowed to start dripping in 1930, only eight drops have fallen. It was calculated in the 1980s that the pitch in the experiment has a viscosity approximately 100 billion

1000000000 (number)

1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....
(10¹¹) times that of water.

Pitch was traditionally used to help caulk the seams of wooden sailing vessels (see shipbuilding

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, originally called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history....
). It was heated, then put into a container with a very long spout. Pitch was also used to waterproof wooden containers, and is sometimes still used in the making of torch

Torch

Originally, a torch was a portable source of fire used as a source of light, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end....
es.

It is black in color, hence the adjectival phrase, "pitch-black".

Production

The heating (dry distilling

Dry distillation

Dry distillation is the heating of solid materials to produce liquid or gaseous products . The method may or may not involve pyrolysis/thermolysis....
) of wood causes tar

Tar

Charcoal

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances....
. Birchbark is used to make particularly fine tar. Tar

Tar

Tar is modified resin produced from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. It is a viscosity black liquid. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America....
and pitch are often used interchangeably. However, pitch is considered more solid while tar is more liquid. Traditionally, pitch for waterproofing buckets, barrels and small boats was drawn from pine.

Pitch (resin)

Production

External links

See also