How do you break up a polymer into a monomer?
If you are asking this as an experimental question, it depends on the type of polymer, but you may be able to depolymerize the material through the use of heat, acid, catalysts, etc. A number of vinyl based polymers will depolymerize at a certain temperature, and a number of polymers made via condensation plz may break down into monomeric units through hydrolysis (over a long period of time and under harsh conditions). Unfortunately, many of these approaches can result in the formation of side products, that is, small molecular products that result are not necessarily the same as the monomer you started out with. Additionally, there are certain polymers in which it would probably be impossible to regain the original monomer. Such an example would include ring opening polymerizations, in which you start with a cyclic monomer which reacts with a chain end and opens up the ring to form a linear species. There are probably a number of characterization techniques, such as NMR, that would give you a good idea. If you are wondering how to determine a monomer structure from just looking at the polymer structure on paper, I would suggest looking at the Macrogalleria, which is an excellent polymer site. Look at a couple of the examples, it should become quite clear how to guess a monomer structure based on a polymer structure......hope it helps
What are monomers , dimers and polymers ?
monomer: simplest form of a carbohydrate, nucleic acid, lipid, or protein. examples: carbohydrate- glucose nucleic acid- nucleotide protein- amino acid lipid: a saturated or unsaturated fat molecule dimer: a pairing of 2 monomers ofthe same type: examples: carbohydrate- sucrose lipid- phospholipid polymer: a set of many monomers of the same type bonded together: examples: carbohydrate- cellulose nucleic acid- DNA
Why is the molecular mass of polymers determined by osmotic pressure and not by other colligative properties?
In order to determine the molecular weight of polymers it is necessary to dissolve the polymer in an appropriate solvent and begin with dilute solution. The colligative properties are (i)RLVP (ii) Elevtion of boiling point (iii) Depression of freezing point (iv) Osmotic pressure.where, Δ Tb , Δ Tf , and π are boiling point elevation, freezing point depression and osmotic pressure, ρ is the density of the solvent, Δ Hν and Δ Hf are respectively the latent heat of vaporization and of fusion of the solvent per gram, c is the polymer (solute) concentration in g/cm3 and M is the solute molecular weight. Very low observed temperature differences (of the order of 10-3 0C) for low finite concentrations of a polymer of the molecular weight range of ≥ 20,000 and lack of development of equipments for ebulliometric and cryoscopic measurements have turned them unattractive and less useful.The osmotic method is in more wide use than other colligative techniques as because the osmotic response is of a magnitude that is easily observable and measurable, even though success of this method is contingent upon availability of prefect osmotic membranes.
Whats the diff of polymer clay and ordinary clay?
Normal clay is that extracted from the ground, polymer (more than one molecule) means the clay has added compounds that assist in its strength upon being furnaced. Both clays are processed, just think of polymer as a mix between clay and plasticine: it has all the natural elements of clay, yet has added substances which assist in is durability. I would recommend going on ebay to get some clay if you have had no luck finding some at your local shopping centers and art and craft shops. Polymer clay is normally cleaner colored and has the option of being multicolored also. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/OZZLE-Polymer-Modelling-Clay-Multicolour-Pack-500g_W0QQitemZ300203815597QQihZ020QQcategoryZ75576QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I live in Australia and i found that one here, but im sure you could get some in the word wide section of ebay. Good Luck.