Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:08:33 +1000 Peter Jason wrote:



I have plenty of grass growing thru cracks in the asphalt road and path
outside my place, and many weeds besides. Also there is lichen growning on
my slate roof.

We used power kerosine (a high-aromatic solvent) to kill weeds in the old
days, but asphalt has lost all its aromatic solvents due to evaporation.

Don't forget that asphalt and tar are two different things, the former from
pertoleum and thelatter from coal.

What exactly is the chemical difference between asphalt and tar?

Apparently there is alot of common language confusion between tar and asphalt.
Most everyone who sees a black sticky substance calls it tar and thinks that
tar is what makes up asphalt.

There is even tar in cigarrettes but there is no coal in cigarettes.

So, should the tar paper pots that my trees come in be more accurately called
asphalt pots?

Posted to sci.chem and sci.materials for someone who can clear up these
definitions.

Archimedes Plutonium
www.archimedesplutonium.com
www.iw.net/~a_plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
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