Maybe there is not in the animal world anyone more grateful to Chemistry than the cat. Not only for the flea protection, vermifuges and other products that Chemistry helped to develop, but also mainly because of a skin. Its own! If it were not for Chemistry, the Mardi Gras ( Brazilian Carnaval), one of the largest popular feasts in the world, would still be keeping the hairs of cats standing up. After all, today, instead of cat skin, a polyamidic resin, better known as nylon, guarantees the sound of pandeiros (Brazilian dry tambourines), tambourines, friction drums (cuicas) and other percussion instruments.

Incidentally, talking about Carnaval (Brazilian Mardi Gras), have you stopped to think about the participation of Chemistry in the musical universe? Well, some facts are quite evident. Most musical instruments use one or another product of chemical origin. The guitar, for instance, may use nylon strings as a replacement for the metal ones. The keyboards, clumsy and heavy before, are conveniently transported from a stage to another in convenient suitcases, thanks to the thermoplastic resins such as polyethylene and polypropylene.

But other chemical presence may not be so evident. Who would say, for instance, that Chemistry had a substantial role in the replacement of the vinyl records by the CD’s? That is the case. Very few people know that the base for the famous CD is a thermoplastic product, the polycarbonate. Or that the minuscule sound box, which is so powerful it may vibrate a bulldozer, is a mixture of circuits and plastics.

Well, that may not be important. The important thing is to choose the right music for the moment, relax and let Chemistry keep developing solutions to make life easier, even for cats and musicians.

Text: Luiz Carlos de Medeiros (Mtb 12.293) English version by Joe Vianna (translat@mvpisp.com)