polymer

Question:
What is a polymer? What happens when another chemical is mixed with it?
nasia l gordon
Answer 1:
Simply put, a polymer is "a large molecule formed by the repetitive
bonding together of many smaller molecules." (McMurry, 1995) So,
polyethylene is ethylene molecules all strung together (...-CH2CH2-...)
and polystyrene (foam coffee cups and packing 'peanuts') is styrene
molecules all connected (...-CH2CH[C6H5]-...). Many polymers are
designed to be chemically inert...meaning nothing will happen when
other chemicals are in contact with the polymer. Polystyrene on the
other hand will dissolve readily in certain solvents (namely acetone).
So the answer to your second question will be...it depends on the
polymer and the other chemical.
-Joe Schultz
Answer 2: Just to add to Joe's answer...
You can also have proteins which are polymers....
many amino acid molecules linked together,
like polyalanine.
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