science

Plastic card

Plastic card is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Plastic card rather than just read about it. In short: Plastic cards usually serve as identity documents, thus providing authentication. In combination with other assets that complement the data stored on the card, like PINs, they also serve authorization purposes, most often as debit or credit cards for allowing their holders to make financial transactions.

Key takeaways

Plastic card belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Plastic card to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Plastic card from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Plastic cards usually serve as identity documents, thus providing authentication. In combination with other assets that complement the data stored on the card, like PINs, they also serve authorization purposes, most often as debit or credit cards for allowing their holders to make financial transactions. Early and simpler cards feature only hard-to-imitate integrated photographs, security holograms, guillochés, or a magnetic strip on which few bytes of personal data could be stored. Today, smart cards, i.e. those equipped with an electronic chip (storage, or RFID), serve as high-security active electronic documents that allow their holder to qualify for driving cars (drivers license card), receive medical treatment (health insurance cards), do banking and more.

Industry In their January 2020 report, the International Card Manufacturers Association's (ICMA) indicates a production increase to a record-high of 37.1 billion cards and $27 billion revenue in 2019. Forecasts predicted market growth at a rate of 8.2% from 2021 to 2028, which was counteracted by losses through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Production

Plastic cards (standard size ID-1) come in various colors and finishing. The laminated mixture of various dyes, paper and plastics (so far mainly PVC and PVCA) and the integration with electronics makes them hard to recycle.

Classification

Type

Range Contact cards (must be inserted into a suitable reading device, e.g. magnetic stripe cards) Contactless cards (using Near-field communication or RFID)

Techno Apart from "regular", i.e. non-electronic cards, there is considerable overlap between "chip-enabled", "digital" and "smart" cards, mostly for historical reasons in the development of the current fully equipped smart cards.

Regular cards Chip-enabled cards Smart cards Digital card Magnetic stripe cards

Applications Gift cards Discount cards Access cards Payment cards Credit cards Debit cards Telephone cards Transportation cards Government/Health, e.g. European Health Insurance Card, Identity card, Passport card SIM cards (smaller size contact card only used within mobile phones)

Non-electronic security features Plastic cards may be printed with the following security-relevant features, some of them also containing personal information, others only serving as anti-forgery devices:

QR code and / or barcode photograph signature security hologram microprinting guilloché patterns (similar to bank notes)

See also Electronic banking Plastic recycling Plastic compounding

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Plastic card

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Plastic card claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Plastic card before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Plastic card ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Plastic card

In research: Plastic card appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Plastic card in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Plastic card is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Identity documents, Payment cards, Smart cards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Plastic card outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Plastic card in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Plastic card means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Plastic card out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Plastic card in simple terms?

Why does Plastic card matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Plastic card?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Plastic card.