The difference between success and disaster often is a matter of perspective.<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\nHave you ever thought about how many of today\u2019s successes began as failures? I am not talking about successes like the light bulb, where Thomas Edison tried thousands of filament materials before finding Tungsten. I am talking about \u201csuccessful failures\u201d where the inventor failed at solving one problem but built on that failure to solve another problem.<\/p>\n
A classic example is penicillin, where Sir Alexander Fleming\u2019s poor housekeeping led to the growth of a new fungus that killed some of his samples of Staphylococcus, a bacterium he was researching. He tested the antibacterial fungus on other pathogens and found it affected the ones that caused pneumonia, scarlet fever and meningitis, but it did not work on the pathogen for typhoid fever, which was what he was actually trying to cure. Where would we be today if Dr. Fleming had only tried it on typhoid and not been diligent enough to experiment on other bacteria?<\/p>\n
As tribologists and lubrication engineers, we have Dr. Roy J. Plunkett to serve as an example. Plunkett was hired by Kinetic Chemicals (a joint venture between DuPont and General Motors) to research a safer chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) for refrigerant. His failure produced one of the greatest scientific successes in the last 100 years. <\/p>\n
Plunkett ad made 100 pounds of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) gas for later chlorination and stored it in a small steel cylinder placed in the freezer overnight. When he and his assistant opened it the next morning, instead of finding gas they found a white, waxy powder. Being a scientist, Plunkett decided to characterize its properties even though it was decidedly not a refrigerant.<\/p>\n
What he found was a product that was heat-resistant, chemically inert, electrically resistant and of such a low coefficient of friction that nothing else would stick to it. Later research showed that it stretches significantly and withstands most weathering effects.<\/p>\n
What Plunkett\u2019s group knew of polymerization at that time could not have predicted what had happened: the cylinder had acted as a catalyst and the TFE had polymerized. He filed a patent application, which outlined recipes for producing various yields of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), with the suggested application of coating goggle lenses for people who handle corrosive substances such as hydrofluoric acid. He also suggested it could be extruded into fiber and used to make fire-resistant clothing.<\/p>\n
Plunkett was transferred to the Tetra-ethyl lead division where he worked on octane boosters for gasoline while this new polymer was sent over to DuPont\u2019s Central Research Department for further investigation. <\/p>\n
DuPont found its first use of this expensive product, which it named Teflon, with the Manhattan Project. It was used in the gaseous diffusion process where resistance to fluorine and fluorine compounds was required. <\/p>\n
In 1951 Plunkett was awarded the John Scott Medal from the City of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
That same year the world was introduced to one of Teflon\u2019s most recognized uses. Everyone in attendance, including Plunkett, was sent home with a Teflon-coated muffin pan! <\/p>\n
One of Plunkett\u2019s suggested applications became reality in a big way 25 years later. Robert Gore, who had worked with his father to discover a way to insulate cables and wires with PTFE, stretched heated rods of PTFE into a fiber that was woven into the fabric that bears his name\u2014Gore-Tex. While it may be known for its water repellency more than any fire-resistance, Gore-Tex is not only heat-resistant, it actually performs better if you follow their slogan\/care instruction: \u201cWash it lots, dry it hot.\u201d So the next time you are working on a task and you think you\u2019ve failed, ask yourself not where you went wrong but where you can go right. That new perspective may lead you to a positive path.<\/p>\n
Originally appeared in Tribology and Lubrication Technology Vol. 66, Number 1, Page 6.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Failure Doesn't Stick The difference between success and disaster often is a matter of perspective. Have you ever thought about how many of today\u2019s successes began as failures? I am not talking about successes like the light bulb, where Thomas Edison tried thousands of filament materials before finding Tungsten. I am talking about \u201csuccessful failures\u201d where the inventor failed Continue Reading<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4012,"featured_media":8762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[404],"tags":[316],"class_list":["post-8460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-did-you-know","tag-extra","cat-404-id"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Failure Doesn't Stick<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Failure Doesn't Stick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Failure Doesn't Stick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Failure Doesn't Stick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TestOil\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TESTOILanalysis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mary Messuti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TESTOILAnalysis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TESTOILAnalysis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mary Messuti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mary Messuti\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/634f56adbdecfee75bde9ce908569a0d\"},\"headline\":\"When Failure Doesn’t Stick\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\"},\"wordCount\":650,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"extra\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Did You Know?\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\",\"name\":\"When Failure Doesn't Stick\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"When Failure Doesn't Stick\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Failure Doesn’t Stick\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/\",\"name\":\"TestOil\",\"description\":\"Oil Analysis\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Eurofins TestOil\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/TestOil-01_RGB.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/TestOil-01_RGB.png\",\"width\":867,\"height\":184,\"caption\":\"Eurofins TestOil\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TESTOILanalysis\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/TESTOILAnalysis\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/testoil-laboratory\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/634f56adbdecfee75bde9ce908569a0d\",\"name\":\"Mary Messuti\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3308c7036e6d44def5d10482874d573e8ec0228523d2aaacd0bc00c2adc6ce3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3308c7036e6d44def5d10482874d573e8ec0228523d2aaacd0bc00c2adc6ce3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mary Messuti\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.testoil.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/testoil.com\/author\/mary\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","description":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","og_description":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","og_url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/","og_site_name":"TestOil","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TESTOILanalysis","article_published_time":"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mary Messuti","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@TESTOILAnalysis","twitter_site":"@TESTOILAnalysis","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mary Messuti","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/"},"author":{"name":"Mary Messuti","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/634f56adbdecfee75bde9ce908569a0d"},"headline":"When Failure Doesn’t Stick","datePublished":"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/"},"wordCount":650,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg","keywords":["extra"],"articleSection":["Did You Know?"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/","url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/","name":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-25T20:52:55+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-25T20:52:56+00:00","description":"When Failure Doesn't Stick","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/iStock_000044553590_Small-Green-Crossroads-Signs-8-7-15.jpg","width":800,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/did-you-know\/failure-doesnt-stick\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Failure Doesn’t Stick"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/","name":"TestOil","description":"Oil Analysis","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#organization","name":"Eurofins TestOil","url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/TestOil-01_RGB.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/TestOil-01_RGB.png","width":867,"height":184,"caption":"Eurofins TestOil"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TESTOILanalysis","https:\/\/x.com\/TESTOILAnalysis","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/testoil-laboratory"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/634f56adbdecfee75bde9ce908569a0d","name":"Mary Messuti","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3308c7036e6d44def5d10482874d573e8ec0228523d2aaacd0bc00c2adc6ce3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3308c7036e6d44def5d10482874d573e8ec0228523d2aaacd0bc00c2adc6ce3c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mary Messuti"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.testoil.com"],"url":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/author\/mary\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227676,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8460\/revisions\/227676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testoil.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}