December8,2014

DustanMcCoy
BrunswickChairmanandCEO
BrunswickBilliard
1NorthFieldCourt
LakeForest,Illinois600454811
DearDustanMcCoy,
MynameisVeronicaHeinrichandIattendthe11thgradeatAnimasHighSchool.
RecentlyinmyChemistryclass,wewereassignedthetasktoimproveaconsumer
productbyusingourknowledgeofmaterialsscienceandchemistry.Imawarethatyour
companyuseswoolfeltforitsbilliardcloth.Whiletherearemanybenefitsofusingfelt
astheclothmaterial,thereisonemajordownside;aspilleddrinkcanruinatable!Felt
isnotahydrophobicmaterial.Tobehydrophobicmeansthematerialislackingan
affinityforwater.Manypooltablesresideinbars,homes,restaurantsandrecreation
centerswherespillsarelikely.Simplemolecularalterationstofeltcanmakeit
hydrophobicandthereforeresistanttospills.
Woolfelthasbeenaroundforcenturiesandiscommonlyusedtomakeheadsofkick
pedals,clothing,andautoparts.Felthasahydrophobicexteriorandhydrophilicinterior
makingthefeltpronetomildewing.Feltismadefromwool,whichisanaturalpolymer
andiscovalentlybonded.Polymersaresubstancesmadeupofalargenumberofsimilar
unitsbondedtogether.Sincefeltisnotacompletelyhydrophobicmaterialitwouldbe
beneficialtoaddahydrophobiccoating.Manysubmicroncoatingspraysareavailable
whichaddathincoatingtothefeltthatprovideshydrophobicpropertiestoit.These
spraysaregenerallypolymers(alsocovalentlybonded)withathicknessofabout1
micron.
Hydrophobicmeansthatthephysicalpropertyofthemoleculesappearstoberepelledby
waterorotherliquids.Typicallyhydrophobicsubstancesarenonpolarwhichindicates
thattwoatomsshareapairofelectrons.Whenfeltiswet,thewatermoleculesare
allowedtobondwithchemicalcompoundsthesamewaywaterbondswithotherwater
moleculesinanelectromagneticattraction.Watermoleculesbeingpolar,areattractedto
othermoleculesthatarepolarallowingthemtobond.Thismakesthewaterinthe
materialclumpuptogetherinsteadofbeingpulledthroughthefelt.Polarbondingis
whentwoatomsequallyshareapairofelectrons.Toavoidmildew,anonpolarcoating
mustbeplacedontopofthefelttorepelthepolarwatermolecules.Thisnonpolar
coatingwillrepelthewatermoleculessincethepolarwatermoleculesareunabletobond
withthenonpolarcoating.Thehydrophobiccoatingnegatesthepolarchargeofthefelt
moleculestoprohibittheirbondingwithwater.Byaddingahydrophobiccoating,liquids
areattractedtothesurfaceofthesubstratethusleavingthepooltablemuchlesslikelyto
bedamagedbyliquids.Igreatlybelievethatyoucanenhancethedurabilityofyourpool

tablesbymakingtheseslightmodifications.
Igreatlyappreciateyourconsiderationofmyproductenhancementproposal.Ifthereare
anyquestionsorfeedbackfeelfreetoemailmeatv.heinrich16@animashighschool.com.
Sincerely,
VeronicaHeinrich