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Chapter 9
The World of Plastics and Polymers
Web Resources |
| How the web can help you with this chapter: As the opening lines of this chaper point out, polymers are everywhere. Look to the web to bring polymers to life (and to clothing, toys, and musical instruments) in your classroom. Top of the hit list is an award-winning site, The Macrogalleria, sponsored in part by the ACS Divisions of Polymer Chemistry and Polymeric Materials.
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- The Macrogalleria was created at the Department of Polymer Science at the University of Southern Mississippi. It's a fantastic site, packed with facts and lore that might be hard to come by elsewhere. The site is organized by "levels":
- Level One: Polymers are Everywhere.
Check out the polymers in clothing, toys or even in an acoustic guitar. The Polyquarium is a virtual zoo where you can learn about polymers present in marine life: sharks, crabs, seals, and other creatures that inhabit the seas and coral reefs.
- Level Two: Polymers Up Close and Personal
Here you can find spec sheets and CHIME files on The Big Six (polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride,
polystyrene,
polypropylene, and polyesters such as PETE. About 20 other synthetic polymers are available as well.
- Level Three: How They Work
This section helps with concepts such as crosslinking and molecular weight, with plenty of graphics and analogies.
- Level Four: Makin' Polymers
The two sections of interest here might be making nylon 6 and nylon 66. The language here may be too complex for your students, but may be just what you need to extend your knowledge of polymer synthesis.
- Level Five: Getting Polymers to Talk
As with Level Four, this level may be a bit too technical for Chemistry in Context readers: how polymers are characterized by IR, NMR, mass spectrometry.
PS - This web site is available as a CD for about $35 (including shipping) - a great investment, especially if you want to use Level Two to show the 3D structures in a classroom or lecture hall (without bothering with a web connection). Check the details at the web site.
