Flexible Rubber Tubing image courtesy of Baxter Rubber Co.
Yoga is all the rage these days and my sister, being one of those annoyingly health-conscious individuals, hopped right on board without a second thought. It didn’t take too long for the benefits of her yoga sessions to show, particularly when it came to her level of flexibility. The other day, for an example, she contorted her body in such an unnatural looking position, I could barely stand looking at her. I, in turn, attempted to touch my toes with my fingertips, and when realizing I couldn’t even accomplish that, I stalked away in frustration and embarrassment. Since then, I have contemplated the idea of being flexible and have come to the conclusion that flexibility is a good indicator of physical health. Lesson learned: I should probably start getting in shape
In addition to yoga fanatics, flexibility is demonstrated all around us. Flexible rubber tubing, for an example, is used for the transportation of liquids and gases within and throughout a system that might be too confined and difficult for other types of tubing— like those that have a lot of bends and corners and which demand the tubing to heavily contort itself. Flexible rubber tubing has very soft and thin walls so that it can twist and stretch while also maintaining good fluid flow. Despite this, flexible rubber tubing exhibits a string resilience against wear and tear.
Flexible rubber tubing can be manufactured from both natural and synthetic rubbers, though some are more flexible than others, such as gum rubber and latex— both of which are natural rubbers. Viton and EPDM rubber tubing are less flexible, but are valued for their high durability and resistance against hard and heavy use, making them particularly attractive to certain industrial processes. Flexible tubing is also very common within the medical industries, particularly for intravenous line when transfusing blood, oxygen or other necessary life-saving fluids— this is additionally beneficial to the patient, who is able to be more comfortable and mobile while being attached to a particular source of liquid or gas.
