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Pitch is a viscoelastic polymer which can be natural or manufactured, derived from petroleum, coal tar, [1] or plants. Pitch produced from petroleum may be called bitumen or asphalt , while plant-derived pitch, a resin , is known as rosin in its solid form.
Asphalt (naturally occurring pitch) may also be called either "mineral tar" or "mineral pitch". There is a tendency to use "tar" for more liquid substances and "pitch" for more solid (viscoelastic) substances. [2] Both "tar" and "pitch" are applied to viscous forms of asphalt, such as the asphalt found in naturally occurring tar pits (e.g., the ...
The term naval stores originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships, a category which includes cordage, mask, turpentine, rosin, pitch and tar. These materials were originally used for water- and weather-proofing wooden ships.
With the demise of wooden ships, those uses of pine resin ended, but the former naval stores industry remained vigorous as new products created new markets. First extensively described by Frederick Law Olmsted in his book A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1856), [3] the naval stores industry was one of the economic mainstays of the southeastern United States until the late 20th century.
Bitumen (asphalt or coal-tar pitch) is a material made up of organic liquids that are highly sticky, viscous, and waterproof. [1] Systems incorporating bituminous-based substrates are sometimes used to construct roofs, in the form of "roofing felt" or "roll roofing" products.
The use of tar and pitch in punishments appearing in such medieval works as Anglo-Norman sermons, The Purgatory of Saint Patrick by Marie de France and Dante's Inferno have been seen as precursors for the idea of tarring and feathering. The latter also features the element of feathers when a "human thief is painfully transformed into a ...
An important consideration in tarred flat roof quality is knowing that the common term 'tar' applies to rather different products: tar or pitch (which is derived from wood resins), coal tar, asphalt and bitumen. Some of these products appear to have been interchanged in their use and are sometimes used inappropriately, as each has different ...
La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; brea in Spanish) has seeped up from the ground for tens of thousands of years.