attackparrot101 Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 What is organic polymer irl? I have been wondering this for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royalstar Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Sorry if I don’t get this correctly, but I believe a polymer is just a molecule made out of many smaller identical units, like a chain. Examples of organic polymers would be dna, proteins, amino acids (I think) and so on. Examples of synthetic polymer would be plastic, nylon, silicone, synthetic rubber, etc. I’m not sure what the ingame organic polymer is supposed to be. Penguin blubber is made of fat, which is not a polymer. I have no idea what the polymer we get from mantises, snails, deathworms, and the aberrant plants is supposed to be either. The crafted polymer doesn’t make any sense, considering it needs obsidian to craft, which is strange since obsidian is definitely not made of polymers. EDIT: actually I’m not so sure anymore, I think obsidian is indeed made up of polymers. In that case, I take back what I said about the crafted polymer not making sense. Basically, the organic polymer in game doesn’t really seems to have anything to to with actual polymers, which I did my best to define. Someone else please correct me if I got something wrong, biochemistry isn’t my strong point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngrySaltire Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 8 minutes ago, Royalstar said: Sorry if I don’t get this correctly, but I believe a polymer is just a molecule made out of many smaller identical units, like a chain. Examples of organic polymers would be dna, proteins, amino acids (I think) and so on. Examples of synthetic polymer would be plastic, nylon silicone, synthetic rubber, etc. I’m not sure what the ingame organic polymer is supposed to be. Penguin blubber is made of fat, which is not a polymer. I have no idea what the polymer we get from mantises, snails, deathworms, and the aberrant plants is supposed to be either. The crafted polymer doesn’t make any sense, considering it needs obsidian to craft, which is strange since obsidian is definitely not made of polymers. Someone else please correct me if I got something wrong, biochemistry isn’t my strong point. Pretty much what you say. Straight from the Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/science/polymer "Polymer, any of a class of natural or synthetic substances composed of very large molecules, called macromolecules, that are multiples of simpler chemical units called monomers. Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms, including, for example, proteins, cellulose, and nucleic acids. Moreover, they constitute the basis of such minerals as diamond, quartz, and feldspar and such man-made materials as concrete, glass, paper, plastics, and rubbers." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attackparrot101 Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e4envy Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 I think that in-game Polymer is supposed to represent more of a carbon fiber composite than anything else; that is, a CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced polymer) where the actual "polymer" part comes from a resin that composes part of the composite - in-game this would be provided by the cementing paste, though it most certainly would not be actual cement. Other than that, there's a significant cause for confusion between the materials for electronics and polymer: electronics are partially composed of silica, but "silica pearls" are not made up of silica at all. They are deposits of calcium carbonate; actual obsidian is created when a high degree of viscosity and polymerization (forming of polymer chains) is present in a lava flow from the presence of... you guessed it, a high silica concentration. Now knowing what we know about synthetic polymer, there's not a whole lot that can explain in-game organic polymer. Biopolymers fall into three categories: polysaccharides (sugar polymers, like starch), polypeptides (proteins), and polynucleotides (DNA and RNA). The closest thing we could get out of biopolymers to the in-game stuff is perhaps rubber, lignin, or suberin, with the last two being examples of structural units in plants. TL;DR: organic polymer that we can harvest from two types of birds and a couple different insects was likely just invented as an alternate way to acquire the resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royalstar Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 9 minutes ago, e4envy said: "silica pearls" are not made up of silica at all. Is it possible that the “silica pearls” are just pure silica? I know it doesn’t make a ton of sense that in ark we get silica from marine invertebrates, but maybe the creatures get silica-based sand stuck in their exoskeleton (like what happens with real, calcium-carbonate pearls) and it somehow gets refined into pure silica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e4envy Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 4 minutes ago, Royalstar said: Is it possible that the “silica pearls” are just pure silica? I know it doesn’t make a ton of sense that in ark we get silica from marine invertebrates, but maybe the creatures get silica-based sand stuck in their exoskeleton (like what happens with real, calcium-carbonate pearls) and it somehow gets refined into pure silica. I think it could only be possible in some weird freak of nature way, because almost all pearls are formed by calcium carbonate buildup in molluscs. Silica, or Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) is already pure because it is highly unreactive, due to the normal reactivity of silicon being neutralized by the addition of oxygen. It is itself the major constituent of sand, though sand can also be made up of calcium carbonate. I suppose the defining factor here is that we are in the ARK, and as is very apparent, it does not follow all normal laws of biology or sense. I suppose our best explanation is that the ARK created these clams to synthesize usable silica in the form of pearls, because otherwise it would be impossible to find workable silica from molluscs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipinghot Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 4 hours ago, attackparrot101 said: What is organic polymer irl? I have been wondering this for a long time. It's mucous. Your ghillie armor is made out of snot. Now try to not think of that the next time you put it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkAsmyth Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 4 hours ago, Pipinghot said: It's mucous. Your ghillie armor is made out of snot. Now try to not think of that the next time you put it on. this killed me im done with forums tonight lmao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attackparrot101 Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 My shotgun is mostly mucus as well then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d1nk Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 15 minutes ago, attackparrot101 said: My shotgun is mostly mucus as well then Don't you mean snotgun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wazzamaniac Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 37 minutes ago, d1nk said: Don't you mean snotgun I've sneezed on people for less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lokisdomain Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 46 minutes ago, d1nk said: Don't you mean snotgun hah! this made me laugh. Not sure how many shotguns i have made from organic poly, but never made the connection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d1nk Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Wazzamaniac said: I've sneezed on people for less That snot very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipinghot Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 2 hours ago, d1nk said: Don't you mean snotgun Well played, +1 for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShellyHappy Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 In my imagination it is a kind of universal plastic. Not snot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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