Polymers (OCR Gateway GCSE Chemistry)

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Polymers

  • Not all covalent molecules are small; covalent molecules can also be very large.
  • Polymers are very large covalent molecules, sometimes called macromolecules
  • Polymers are large molecules of high relative molecular mass and are made by linking together large numbers of smaller molecules called monomers
  • Each monomer is a repeat unit and is connected to the adjacent units 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
    • Common polymers include polythene which is used extensively in plastic bags and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which has many industrial applications, most notably in the production of water pipes.

  • Many everyday materials such as resins, plastics, polystyrene cups, nylon etc. are polymers
  • These are manufactured and are called synthetic polymers
  • Nature also produces polymers which are called natural or biological polymers
    • Examples include DNA, proteins, silk and wool

Polymerisation - Examples of Addition Polymers, downloadable AS & A Level Chemistry revision notes

Polymers are made from very long carbon chains with a repeating unit

This diagram shows a short section of polystyrene, a polymer used widely in packaging materials

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Jennifer

Author: Jennifer

Expertise: Chemistry

Jenny graduated in 'Chemistry for Drug Discovery' from the University of Bath in 2006, followed by her PGCE in secondary science, and has been teaching chemistry to 11-18 year olds ever since. She has taught GCSE and A-level chemistry for over 16 years and been a Director of Science for over 6 years, as well as tutoring and writing science books. Jenny loves helping students to understand the core concepts in chemistry and the links between topics, so is now happily working at Save My Exams to support more students to succeed in their learning.