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LEGO bricks used to be made from cellulose acetate plastic from 1950 to 1963. If you try to build models out of such old lego bricks, they will not fit well because they will now be warped and discoloured slightly. More stable plastics were invented. Since 1964 the newer bricks have been made from molded ABS plastic. ABS is a complex chemical substance called a polymer, which is itself made up of a chain of molecules in a repeated pattern like many lego blocks stuck together by molecular bonds in a long chain of repeated shapes. This polymer (ABS) stands for Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. It is made from several simpler chemicals. The acrylonitrile is made from mixing ammonia gas with Propylene. The Butadiene is made by seperating a fraction (the C4 fraction) of the steam cracking process of Petroleum. The Styrene is made from the dehydrogenation of Ethyl Benzene, which in turn comes from ethylene and benzene. Don't forget that also certain dyes or paints are used to colour each of the types of bricks during the formation of the plastics. I bet you're sorry you asked now. :)

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12y ago

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