# Plastic is a pretty tough material except when it is used to make CD jewel boxes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666 "2017-01-20T23:02:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/1 "2017-01-20T23:02:32Z")
Why is that? Plastic pipes, clam shell packaging, kid’s toys, etc… used everywhere and very strong and durable. And a good choice for the usage. But CD jewel cases will crack and break at the first excuse. :mad: They are a form of technology that has been around for almost forty years and it doesn’t work well at all. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/2 "2017-01-20T23:41:00Z")
It is made out of [polystyrene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene). From the 'pedia: > [@](#): > > General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. So it’s really cheap. That’s why they use it even though it’s crap. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/3 "2017-01-21T00:04:03Z")
There are a few hundred thousand “Plastics” out there. A very famous line from “The Graduate” comes to mind… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/4 "2017-01-21T01:35:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So it’s really cheap. That’s always the answer to questions like these. You didn’t even have to know what plastics are. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/5 "2017-01-21T02:06:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That’s always the answer to questions like these. You didn’t even have to know what plastics are. But I had a cite! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/6 "2017-01-21T02:36:00Z")
Technically, plastic is not a material but rather a characteristic of certain materials. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/7 "2017-01-21T02:50:47Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Technically, plastic is not a material but rather a characteristic of certain materials. Both are true. A “plastic”, used as a noun, refers to a class of moldable polymers. Other substances which are malleable and can be molded into solid objects are called “plastic”, used as an adjective. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/8 "2017-01-21T03:13:33Z")
Plastic certainly isn’t “a” material. It can be any one of a very large class of materials, or even a mixture of multiple such materials (ABS, for instance, which Lego and some 3d-printed objects are made from, is a mixture of three different plastics). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/9 "2017-01-21T03:42:15Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Technically, plastic is not a material but rather a characteristic of certain materials. See. You didn’t have to know what plastics are. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/10 "2017-01-21T03:50:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … (ABS, for instance, which Lego and some 3d-printed objects are made from, is a mixture of three different plastics). In other words not simply a mixture but a polymer _alloy_. ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/11 "2017-01-21T03:58:52Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Why is that?They are a form of technology that has been around for almost forty years and it doesn’t work well at all. Yeah, tech that’s been around for awhile… Doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best… It just means that we swallow it.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/12 "2017-01-21T07:02:34Z")
> [@ZurBob](#): > > In other words not simply a mixture but a polymer _alloy_. Doesn’t it have to have a metal component to be an alloy? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/13 "2017-01-21T08:55:21Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Doesn’t it have to have a metal component to be an alloy? The formal definition of alloy is specifically talking about a mixture of metals. ABS is somewhat analogous to an alloy. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/14 "2017-01-22T04:18:11Z")
Wood is a pretty tough material except for those [kids’ toy airplanes](https://www.tintoyarcade.com/retro-flyer-balsa-wood-airplane-usa.html?language=en¤cy=USD&gclid=CjwKEAiAqozEBRDJrPem0fPKtX0SJAD5sAyHDvytyEX74VLKuGOWT92Ab0zFfOw3Pc5GhcH-h1b6OBoC3Srw_wcB). Why is that? Wooden furniture, house framing, kid’s toys, etc… used everywhere and very strong and durable. And a good choice for the usage. But kids’ toy airplanes will crack and break at the first excuse. They are a form of technology that has been around for thousands of years and it doesn’t work well at all. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/15 "2017-01-22T04:41:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Wood is a pretty tough material except for those [kids’ toy airplanes](https://www.tintoyarcade.com/retro-flyer-balsa-wood-airplane-usa.html?language=en¤cy=USD&gclid=CjwKEAiAqozEBRDJrPem0fPKtX0SJAD5sAyHDvytyEX74VLKuGOWT92Ab0zFfOw3Pc5GhcH-h1b6OBoC3Srw_wcB). Why is that? > > Wooden furniture, house framing, kid’s toys, etc… used everywhere and very strong and durable. And a good choice for the usage. > > But kids’ toy airplanes will crack and break at the first excuse. > > They are a form of technology that has been around for thousands of years and it doesn’t work well at all. Try sitting in a chair made of balsa wood and you’ll see why those toy airplanes are so fragile. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/16 "2017-01-22T13:30:06Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Doesn’t it have to have a metal component to be an alloy? Nah, it’s common today for various polymer compounds to be referred to as alloys. Metal or plastic, the concept is essentially the same. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/17 "2017-01-22T14:06:46Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Try sitting in a chair made of balsa wood and you’ll see why those toy airplanes are so fragile. 😛 Whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/18 "2017-01-22T14:31:07Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Why is that? > > Plastic pipes, clam shell packaging, kid’s toys, etc… used everywhere and very strong and durable. And a good choice for the usage. > > But CD jewel cases will crack and break at the first excuse. :mad: > > They are a form of technology that has been around for almost forty years and it doesn’t work well at all. transparent (clear) plastics like polystyrene and polycarbonate tend to be rigid and more brittle, and more prone to cracking. since the album art/booklet was meant to slide in to the CD case cover, the rigidity clarity of the plastic was more important. kids toys and the other examples you mentioned are made from different polymers. “knock-around” stuff like big wheel trikes and the like are generally made from polyethylene (PE,) which is flexible and resistant to impacts. but PE is typically not clear, at best it’s translucent (milk jugs.) a PE blend which _is_ transparent (PET) is used for soda bottles, but it’s too flexible/bendy for a CD case cover. ABS and blends like PC-ABS tend to have good impact resistance, but again are almost never transparent. there is ABS out there which is transparent, but guess what? it has much less impact resistance. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/19 "2017-01-22T14:55:34Z")
(Note: polycarbonate is what the CDs themselves are made out of. Much stronger in this case.) I was thinking about the history of media packaging. I think audio cassettes were the first to use polystyrene shells. I don’t think people generally kept 8-tracks in individual plastic shells. The shells of cassettes have an advantage over CD jewel cases in terms of compact size, wider edges, etc. All of which reduce the forces on and strengthen the hinges. (But they still could be broken with little effort.) I think the experience with cassette shells lead to the adoption of CD jewel cases. Note that CDs were initially often sold in long box packaging. That increased the total cost of packaging so keeping the jewel case part cheap had to be a factor. (One oddity about the heyday of cassettes vs. CDs was that CDs were much cheaper to produce but carried a premium price.) Video cassettes eschewed clear cases in favor of cardboard and soft plastic packaging. Of course the successor to BluRays will have no packaging at all. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666/20 "2017-01-22T14:57:49Z")
I know the OP didn’t ask, but: after having years of experience mailing CDs I have found a design that withstands the USPS machinery: the clamshell type, such as these (not these in particular, just representative): > **[Clam Shell 1 CD Cases - Clear S-6765 - Uline](https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-6765/CD-Cases/Clam-Shell-1-CD-Cases-Clear?pricode=WY539&gadtype=pla&id=S-6765&gclid=Cj0KEQiAzZHEBRD0ivi9_pDzgYMBEiQAtvxt-H-BaIoxUGh2kmsUeoeaqdnS6pyjKmVa8dvhKCdcI9gaAlZA8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds)** > > Indestructible case - Slim design. Won't break when dropped. Recommended for compact storage and bulk mailings.ULINE offers over 38,500 boxes, plastic poly bags, mailing tubes, warehouse supplies and bubble wrap for your storage, packaging, or... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plastic-is-a-pretty-tough-material-except-when-it-is-used-to-make-cd-jewel-boxes/777666.md?page=2)