05 Polymers - Properties

Polymers are substances made of many long chain molecules tangled together (like a bowl of spaghetti)

Each link in the long chain molecule is a small covalent molecule that is in turn covalently-bonded to another small covalent molecule and so on hundreds or thousands of times

Because the polymer chain is so long, the total intermolecular force between the molecule chains can be quite large

Because the intermolecular forces are quite strong, a lot of heat is needed to melt them

As a result polymers are solids at room temperature, usually with melting points over 100C

There's a powerpoint attached which might help...