Polymers

• • Polymers consist of very large molecules
• • The are made by linking together large numbers of smaller molecules called monomers
• • The atoms in the polymer molecules are linked to other atoms via strong covalent bonds
• • The intermolecular forces acting in between polymer chains are larger than those in between simple molecules so polymers are usually solid at room temperature
• Only need to be able to recognise diagrams of polymers in exam

  • In a repeat unit, the bonds on either side of the polymer must extend outside the brackets (these are called extension or continuation bonds)
  • A small subscript n is written on the bottom right hand side to indicate a large number of repeat units

  
• another example of polymer diagram 


  Another example of polymer diagram