compounds that join together to form polymers

COMPOUNDS THAT JOIN TOGETHER TO FORM POLYMERS HOW TO

Given the structure of the monomer the structural formula of the addition polymer can be drawn. The monomers used to make other addition polymers are drawn in a similar shape to ethene, for example, propene.Īlthough this is the usual way to draw the structural formula for propene, for the purposes of showing how the molecule acts as a monomer and can form a polymer it should be drawn in a different way.Įxamples of other monomers are given below. Polyethene is the most common plastic with over 80 million metric tons produced each year. Polymers made in this way are called addition polymers. Ethene is the unsaturated monomer which, when joined to other ethene molecules through an addition reaction, forms the saturated polymer polyethene. Small unsaturated ethene monomers join up by the opening of the double bond allowing them to join up to form a long carbon chain.

The formation of poly(ethene) from ethene is an example of addition polymerisation.

COMPOUNDS THAT JOIN TOGETHER TO FORM POLYMERS HOW TO

How to draw structural formulae for polymers The alkenes ethene and propene are two important feedstocks in the petrochemical industry which can also be used to make addition polymers. Addition polymerisationĪddition polymerisation is a process involving many small, unsaturated monomers combining to form one large polymer molecule.

a polymer: Homopolymers are polymers made by joining together monomers of the same chemical composition or structure. Polymers are chains with an unspecified number of monomeric units. Polymerisation is the process in which the small monomer units join together to form a large polymer molecule. Polymers are a class of synthetic substances composed of multiples of simpler units called monomers.

Compounds that join together to form polymers