Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Vulcanised latex chains straighten under load and snap back when released. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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A rubber band stretches because its molecules uncoil

Vulcanised latex chains straighten under load and snap back when released Natural rubber is a tangle of long polymer chains with occasional sulphur crosslinks holding them into a loose network. Pulling straightens the coils and aligns the chains, which is why a stretched band stiffens as it extends. The crosslinks stop the chains sliding past each other permanently, so the band returns to shape. It sits in Mondo's everyday life collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: rubber, materials, elasticity

A rubber band stretches because its molecules uncoil: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Vulcanised latex chains straighten under load and snap back when released. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a everyday life fact?: Yes. It sits on the Everyday Life shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.