Polymerisation

• What is a polymer?

  A unit of repeating monomers.
• What is thermosoftening?

  Thermosoftening polymer

  ↬ Weak intermolecular forces

  ↬ Individual polymer chains are tangled

  ↬ Soften when heated
• What is thermosetting?

  Thermosetting polymers

  ↬ Strong covalent bonds that form cross-links

  ↬ Strong polymer chains (joined by cross-links)

  ↬ Do not melt when heated
• What is addition polymerisation?

  Polymers where the monomers are alkenes.
• How is a polymer drawn?

  ↬ example of poly(ethene)

  
• Remember that when drawing a polymer, the carbon in an addition polymer does not contain a double bond.