Name: ________________________________________ Date: ____________________

1. What does this computer have in common with a model airplane?

both are useless hunks of plastic
you work too hard for the meager satisfaction of putting them together correctly
both have bodies made of polystyrene
nothing

2. What's so special about syndiotactic polystyrene?

it has a regular structure
it can crystallize
it has a melting temperature of 270^oC
All of the above

3. What does a teenager with acne have in common with a free radical vinyl polymerization?

raging hormones
low self-esteem
both may use benzoyl peroxide
smelly, toxic chemicals

4. What are the three steps of free-radical polymerization?

propigation disproportionation, coupling
initiation, propigation, termination
initiation, propigation, disprportionation
coupling, chain transfer, branching

5. The rate of a free radical vinyl polymerization depends mainly on what two things?

polymer concentration and the size of the reaction vessel
initiator concentration and the square root of the monomer concentration
monomer concentration and the square root of the initiator concentration
the weather outside and the phase of the moon

6. Why should the polymerization in this experiment only be carried out to ~10% conversion?

to keep the polymer from gelling in the expensive dilatometer
initiator and monomer concentrations will remain relativly constant
at higher conversions, the change in volume becomes too small to measure with a dilatometer
A and B
All of the above

7. When the dilatometer is placed into the constant temperature bath, the initial increse in the volume is due to. . .

the styrene trying to get out of the hot water
thermal expansion
expansion due to polymerization
a change in the pressure in the dilatometer

8. Why is dodecyl mercaptan used in this experiment?

to examine the effects of a chain transfer agent on polymerization rate
to initiate polymerization
it is used as an endcapper
No reason. Just something else to dump into the reaction

9. Dilatometry is not useful in step growth polymerization because. . .

it was designed for use with free radical polymerization
high molecular weight polymers are not formed until the reaction reaches high conversion
Dr. Mathias says so
a small molecule condenses out of the reaction mixture resulting in little or no volume change

10. If the monomer concentration was doubled and the initiator concentration was increased by nine, how much faster would the reaction go?

2 times
4 times
6 times
10 times

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