How to Calculate the Molecular Mass of Polymers?
The total atomic weight of all the molecules that make up a polymer is known as the Molecular Weight of the Polymer.
A polymer is made up of repeating units. The monomer molecules were originally these repeating units. Polymer chains have different weights and lengths when they first form. The ability to describe the polymer structure is important. Any characterization of a polymer essential is either the weight-average or number-average molecular weight.
Number Average Molecular Mass (Mn)
Number mean or simple arithmetic mean, represents the weight of all molecules divided by the number of molecules.
Mathematically, this can be calculated as:
where,
- Ni is the average number of molecules, and
- Mi is the average molecular mass.
Weight Average Molecular Mass (Mw)
Weight average or simple arithmetic mean, represents the mass and molecular masses of all molecules divided by mass.
Mathematically, this can be calculated as:
What is a Polymer?
A Polymer is a very big molecule or complexly structured material made up of macromolecules, which are small, simple compounds that repeat themselves to make polymers. Both Synthetic Polymers as well as Natural Polymers play significant and relevant roles in daily life. As natural polymers, i.e., DNA and RNA, is the reason for life on earth, without DNA we can’t imagine life on earth.
From well-known synthetic plastics like polystyrene to natural biopolymers like DNA and proteins that are essential to biological structure and function, polymers come in many shapes and sizes. Here are some examples of polymers in the figure given below.
Table of Contents
- Definition of Polymers
- Classification of Polymers
- Structure
- Characteristics
- Polymerization Reactions
- Molecular mass of Polymers
- Uses of Polymers
- FAQs on Polymers