PPE 108 Fundamentals of Polymer Engineering
Study Questions-III
1. How do the densities compare for crystalline and amorphous polymers of the same material that have
identical molecular weights?
2. Explain briefly why the tendency of a polymer to crystallize decreases with increasing molecular weight.
3. Both Kevlar and extended-chain linear polyethylene fibers contain a high degree of extended-chain
crystallinity, yet the former is somewhat stronger than the latter. Why?
4. Nylon 6/6 is opaque when pure. However, if isophthalic acid (a diacid in which the two acid groups are
arranged in meta positions on a phenyl ring) is substituted for the adipic acid, the resulting polymer is
transparent. Explain.
5. Two perfectly transparent polymers are physically mixed. The resulting mixture is also perfectly
transparent. What does this mean? Hint: There is more than one possibility.
6. X-ray diffraction measurements show that polyethylene crystallizes in a body centered orthorhombic unit
cell with lattice parameters a=0.7417 nm, b=0.4945 nm, and c=0.2547 nm at 25 oC. The a, b, and c axes
are orthogonal. The chain axes run in the c direction and there are two repeating units per unit cell (one
running up the center and one-quarter in each of the four corners). Calculate the crystal density of
polyethylene.
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PPE 108 Fundamentals of Polymer Engineering
7. The density of amorphous polyethylene is estimated to be 0.855 g/cm3 at 25 oC by extrapolating values
from above the melting point. Use this value and your answer to Problem 7 to estimate
(a) the degree of crystallinity of a 0.93 g/cm3 polyethylene sample, and
(b) the density of a 72% crystalline polyethylene sample.
8. The density and associated percent crystallinity for two poly(ethylene terephthalate) materials are as
follows:
(a) Compute the densities of totally crystalline and totally amorphous poly(ethylene terephthalate).
(b) Determine the percent crystallinity of a specimen having a density of 1.382 g/cm3.
9. The density and associated percent crystallinity for two polypropylene materials are as follows:
(a) Compute the densities of totally crystalline and totally amorphous polypropylene.
(b) Determine the density of a specimen having 74.6% crystallinity.
10. Polyethylene and polypropylene produced with stereospecific catalysts each are fairly rigid, translucent
plastics, while a 65–35 copolymer of the two, produced in exactly the same manner, is a soft, transparent
rubber. Explain this fact.
11. A plastic is similar in appearance and mechanical properties to the polyethylene and polypropylene, but it
consists of 65% ethylene and 35% propylene units. The two components of this plastic cannot be
separated by any physical or chemical means without degrading the polymer. Explain this fact.
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PPE 108 Fundamentals of Polymer Engineering
12. Explain the following experiment. A weight is tied to the end of a poly(vinyl alcohol) fiber. The weight and
part of the fiber are dunked in a beaker of boiling water. As long as the weight remains suspended, the
situation is stable, but when the weight is rested on the bottom of the beaker, the fiber dissolves.
13. For each of the following pairs of polymers, do the following: (1) State whether it is possible to determine
whether one polymer is more likely to crystallize than the other; (2) if it is possible, note which is the more
likely and then cite reason(s) for your choice; and (3) if it is not possible to decide, then state why.
(a) Linear and atactic poly(vinyl chloride); linear and isotactic polypropylene
(b) Linear and syndiotactic polypropylene; crosslinked cis-polyisoprene
(c) Network phenol-formaldehyde; linear and isotactic polystyrene
(d) Block poly(acrylonitrile-isoprene) copolymer; graft poly(chloroprene-isobutylene) copolymer
14. For a specific polymer, given at least two density values and their corresponding percent crystallinity
values, develop a spreadsheet that allows the user to determine the following:
(a) the density of the totally crystalline polymer
(b) the density of the totally amorphous polymer
(c) the percent crystallinity of a specified density
(d) the density for a specified percent crystallinity
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