Polymers

Polymers are very large molecules made of many smaller repeating units. ‘poly’ – many ‘mer’ – part. Each individual part is called a monomer. Polyethylene – one type of ‘plastic’

(Polypropylene, Teflon, synthetic rubbers) Two main Polymerization reactions: 1. Addition polymers: 1 type of monomer units added together to form a long chain polymer. Monomer is usually an alkene. (Polypropylene, Teflon, synthetic rubbers) Usually requires an initiator – to kick start the reaction (disrupts double bonds).

(nylon, polyurethane, and Dacron) 2. Condensation polymers : reactions with two or more different monomers. (nylon, polyurethane, and Dacron)

Large molecules with repeating units monomers. Addition polymers - monomers unit adds together. Polymerization requires an initiator. Condensation polymers - two or more different monomers that results in the formation small molecules like water and ammonia.

http://pslc.ws/macrog//maindir.htm GO TO: Macrogalleria of Polymer Fun Go to level 1 Go to three or four stores List 7 different polymers (skip duplicates) Follow the links for each polymer (level 2) Draw polymer and name (draw) monomers List the uses of each polymers