What are Synthetic Fibres?

Fibers

Fibers are thin, long, and flexible and hair or thread-like structures. There are two types of fiber:-

1. Natural Fibres

The fibers which are obtained from natural sources such as plants are known as natural fibers.
Example:- Cotton, wool, silk, etc.

2. Man-made fibers

The fibers which are manufactured in factories by humans are known as man-made or Synthetic fibers.
Example:- Nylon, Rayon, acrylic, etc.

Synthetic Fibres:

Synthetic fibers are made by humans through chemical synthesis in laboratories and factories. Fabrics are made by weaving fibers (or threads) obtained from natural or artificial sources. They can be of two types:

What is a synthetic fiber made up of?

A synthetic fiber, as well as plastic, is made up of a chain of small units (called Monomers) which combine to form polymers.

Monomers: A monomer is a single molecule that can bond with other identical molecules to form polymers through a process called Polymerization.

Polymers: Polymer is a Greek word in which 'poly' means 'many' and 'mer' means units. Hence, polymers are large molecules made up of several molecules (or monomers) linked together.

Example of Polymers:

All synthetic fibers, such as Rayon and Nylon, are polymers. Polymers are also found in Nature. ‘Cotton’ is a polymer called ‘Cellulose’. ‘Cellulose’ is made up of a number of single units (or monomers) called ‘Glucose’.

Polymerization Reaction: The process of linking small monomers together to form polymers is called Polymerization.