What are polymers and how to draw them

Definitions

Polymerisation: The process of making a giant structure (a polymer) from many repeating units (monomers).

Polymer: A giant structure from many repeating units.

Monomers: The repeating units in a polymer

(Therefore: You produce polymers from monomers)

Materials that clean easily are usually made by polymerisation.

eg. plastic bags (from polyethene) – it’s not bio-degradable

Steps

1. Break the C=C
2. Put 2 free ends
3. Put a bracket and an “n” outside it.

A video for more complicated polymers is coming soon!

Naming

Use the name of the original compound and add “poly-” in front of it.

eg.

Here are links to the names of the compounds:
Alkanes names
Alkenes names
Reactions of organic compounds which change their names

Have any questions about this topic? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you 🙂