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Interesting fact

Nylon was first introduced around 1939 and was in high demand to make stockings. However, as World War 2 progressed, nylon was used more and more to make parachutes, and so stockings became more difficult to buy. After the war, when manufacturers were able to shift their focus from parachutes back to stockings, a number of riots took place as women queued to get stockings. In one of the worst disturbances, 40 000 women queued up for 13 000 pairs of stockings, which led to fights breaking out!

Polymers

  1. The following monomer is a reactant in a polymerisation reaction:
    1. What is the IUPAC name of this monomer?
    2. Give the structural formula of the polymer that is formed in this polymerisation reaction.
    3. Is the reaction an addition or condensation reaction?
  2. The polymer below is the product of a polymerisation reaction.
    1. Give the structural formula of the monomer in this polymer.
    2. What is the name of the monomer?
    3. Draw the abbreviated structural formula for the polymer.
    4. Has this polymer been formed through an addition or condensation polymerisation reaction?
  3. A condensation reaction takes place between methanol and methanoic acid.
    1. Give the structural formula for...
      1. methanol
      2. methanoic acid
      3. the product of the reaction
    2. What is the name of the product? (Hint: The product is an ester)

The chemical properties of polymers

The attractive forces between polymer chains play a large part in determining a polymer's properties. Because polymer chains are so long, these interchain forces are very important. It is usually the side groups on the polymer that determine what types of intermolecular forces will exist. The greater the strength of the intermolecular forces, the greater will be the tensile strength and melting point of the polymer. Below are some examples:

  • Hydrogen bonds between adjacent chains Polymers that contain amide or carbonyl groups can form hydrogen bonds between adjacent chains. The positive hydrogen atoms in the N-H groups of one chain are strongly attracted to the oxygen atoms (more precisely, the lone-pairs on the oxygen) in the C=O groups on another. Polymers that contain urea linkages would fall into this category. The structural formula for urea is shown in [link] . Polymers that contain urea linkages have high tensile strength and a high melting point.
    The structural formula for urea
  • Dipole-dipole bonds between adjacent chains Polyesters have dipole-dipole bonding between their polymer chains. Dipole bonding is not as strong as hydrogen bonding, so a polyester's melting point and strength are lower than those of the polymers where there are hydrogen bonds between the chains. However, the weaker bonds between the chains means that polyesters have greater flexibility. The greater the flexibility of a polymer, the more likely it is to be moulded or stretched into fibres.
  • Weak van der Waal's forces Other molecules such as ethene do not have a permanent dipole and so the attractive forces between polyethene chains arise from weak van der Waals forces. Polyethene therefore has a lower melting point than many other polymers.

Questions & Answers

First aid and basic life support with answer like rarely, always,never
Eddie Reply
can you please help me with organic reactions
Bohlale Reply
if someone can please do a lil summary of organic reactions
Alicia
I olso need help
Noko
hi I need help
Zamokwakhe
In organic chemistry we have prefixes used to indicate the number of carbon atoms in a organic compound Which are: 1~Meth 2~Eth 3~Prop 4~But 5~Pent 6~Hex 7~Hept 8~Oct
Ofentse
meaning of homologous series and functional series and hydrocarbon
Lusanda Reply
who can explain mechanics parts for me
Sifiso Reply
difference between a and g
Tshwaranang Reply
when dealing with vertical projectile motion you can threat it as if it is the same thing
Akhona
a is the acceleration and therefore when dealing with your calculations you always have to change the sign conversion if it, it will depend on which direction you're taking as positive and g is the gravitational force and remember that it always acts downwards.
Thato
functional chain of Alcohol
Naledi Reply
Hi Guys
Sinetemba
hy
Magdeline
hey
Tlhonolofatso
hello guys
Mukona
hy
Akhona
hey
Boitumelo
hy
Kwonda
hi
Mabatho
hy
Fortunate
hi
Johnson
hi
Desiree
hi
Yoanda
Hi
Celvin
I'm fine and you
Ntuthuko
eyy
Noko
hy
Kagiso
what is the definition of work
Berdes Reply
hi
Sifiso
so peoples what is meant when objects are directly or inversely proportional to each other?
Asanda Reply
when they're directly proportional they both decrease or increase at the same time....but when they're inversely proportional the other one increases while the other one decreases
Tiisetso
how do we draw a velocity vs time graph for bouncing ball
Jojo Reply
what is an atom
Jimmy Reply
an atom is an small particle of matter
Asanda
I don't understand the part about the objects sharing the same time when falling and reaching the initial and maximum height. Could you explain it?
Liyakha Reply
same here I don't understand
Lusanda
wat formula do you use for that
Lithemba
what is phosphorus?
Rasool Reply
what is isomers
Iphithule Reply
what are isomers
Iphithule
are compound that have the same molecular formula but different structural formulae
Lizzbeth
types of isomers?
Khensani
Chain isomer functional group isomer positional isomer
Lizzbeth
a learner is standing on a stationary 2,3kg skateboard. if the learner jump at a velocity of 0.37m.s forward.,the skateboard velocity become 8,9m.s backwards. calculate the mass of the learner
Sbongakonke Reply
initial velocity before the explosion
Tiisetso Reply

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Source:  OpenStax, Siyavula textbooks: grade 12 physical science. OpenStax CNX. Aug 03, 2011 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11244/1.2
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