Monomers bond to form polymers through polymerization. Natural and man-made polymers are used in various products. Polymerization can be described through addition or condensation systems, as well as chain growth or step polymerization. Curing is necessary for the formation of larger molecules.
Monomers are small single molecules, such as hydrocarbons and amino acids. Monomers bond together to form polymers in a process called polymerization. People use man-made polymers, such as polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), in hospitals, schools and in their own homes, but they make up only a small percentage of these materials. Rubber and cellulose, which are natural polymers, are used to make everything from tires to cellophane to rayon. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and proteins are also natural polymers.
Polymerization isn’t a complicated subject, but the ways monomers are brought together vary so much that scientists find it easier to have more than one system for describing this process. A process separation system asks the question of how much of the original molecule is left when the monomers bond. In “addition polymerization”, monomers are added together with their unchanged structure. This type could be compared to a child playing with blocks: although the wall that the child builds is a large structure, in the end, the individual blocks are still distinguishable.
This is not true in condensation polymerization. This process results in a polymer that is less massive than the two or more monomers that came together to form it. This happens because not all of the original monomer can remain on the polymer. Hydrochloric acid and water are usually forced out of the mix when polymers are formed in this way.
While condensation and addition systems can be useful for describing these processes, it is not the only way to see how polymers might form. Another way to explain how monomers form polymers involves looking at how monomers combine with each other. In chain growth polymerization, one monomer is added to the collection at a time until a polymer is formed. This is the simplest method. A more complicated process is called step polymerization. Here, it’s usually not just one monomer joining the party at a time. Eventually, there will be enough monomers to make a polymer.
Curing is a necessary process. Only through this formation of larger molecules could the human brain exist.
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