A quick introduction to ‘rubber’

Rubber is a molecule that is found naturally in some plants (Havea brasiliensis) or can be manufactured synthetically from petroleum. The name rubber was coined by the English chemist Joseph Priestley in 1770 when he found it could be used to rub out pencil marks. The chemical structure of rubber comprises essentially of one type of molecule that is replicated several times (polymer) and connected together in the form of a chain.