Deck 9: The World of Polymers and Plastics

Question 1

A monomer is

A)a single polymer chain.
B)a polymer made from only one component.
C)a small molecule used to make a polymer chain.
D)a polymer molecule that only contains a single element.

Answer 1

a small molecule used to make a polymer chain.

Question 2

This is a structural formula for propylene. Which of these represents the "head-to-tail,head-to-tail" arrangement of monomers in polypropylene?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Answer 2

Question 3

Which would be classified as a synthetic polymer?

A)Cellulose
B)Wool
C)Rubber
D)Nylon

Answer 3

Nylon

Question 4

Polystyrene is used to make Styrofoam cups.For this usage,which property is most important?

A)Good insulator
B)Light weight
C)White and opaque
D)Brittle

Question 5

This is a structural formula for propylene. Which of these does represent a possible arrangement of monomers within polypropylene?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 6

Which of these is a representation of vinyl chloride?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 7

Which atoms does a hydroxyl functional group contain?

A)Hydrogen and carbon
B)Carbon and oxygen
C)Hydrogen and oxygen
D)Hydrogen and nitrogen

Question 8

Blowing agents are gases,or a compound that releases a gas,that are added to polymers in the manufacture of a foamed plastic.Which statement is not true?

A)At one time,CFC's were used as blowing agents
B)Gaseous pentane is now often used
C)The DOW 100 percent CO₂ technology uses carbon monoxide
D)The use of pentane is hazardous because it is highly flammable

Question 9

Polystyrene is used to make

A)foam coffee cups and CD cases.
B)garbage bags and CDs.
C)shoes and garden hoses.
D)cell phones and contact lenses.

Question 10

The molecules that are added to polymers to make them softer and more pliable are known as

A)monomers.
B)plasticizers.
C)pigments.
D)rubber.

Question 11

This is a schematic representation of the two different forms of polyethylene. Which of the following statements is true?

A)I is HDPE and it has a lower melting point than II which is LDPE
B)I is HDPE and it has a higher melting point than II which is LDPE
C)I is LDPE and it has a lower melting point than II which is HDPE
D)I is LDPE and it has a higher melting point than II which is HDPE

Question 12

Which polymer is incorrectly matched with its use?

A)LDPE-plastic bag
B)HDPE-milk jug
C)PS-contact lenses
D)PET-soda bottles

Question 13

The distinctive arrangements of atoms that impart characteristic chemical properties to the molecules that contain them are called

A)monomers.
B)functional groups.
C)radicals.
D)transition states.

Question 14

Which of these synthetic polymers is most closely related to the natural protein polymers?

A)Polyester
B)Nylon
C)Polystyrene
D)Polyvinyl chloride

Question 15

Nathaniel Wyeth developed plastic soft drink bottles.They are made from which polymer?

A)HDPE
B)PVC
C)PS
D)PET

Question 16

Which would be classified as a natural polymer?

A)Cellulose
B)Polystyrene
C)Polyester
D)Nylon

Question 17

Some of the uses for polypropylene are yogurt containers,carpeting,luggage,and bottle caps.Which is not a property of polypropylene?

A)High melting point
B)Very tough
C)Transparent
D)Resistant to oils

Question 18

The "big six" polymers are all classified as thermoplastics because they

A)are all used as insulators.
B)can be melted and shaped.
C)are all crystalline.
D)are all amorphous.

Question 19

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is used in

A)water bottles.
B)CD cases.
C)milk cartons.
D)plumbing pipe.

Question 20

A polymer is a large molecule

A)made up of long chains of atoms held together by hydrogen bonds.
B)made up of long chains of atoms covalently bonded together.
C)made up of a large lattice structure held together by ionic bonds.
D)always made up of identical monomer units.

Question 21

How are HDPE and LDPE different?

A)Only one is a member of the "big six"
B)They are made from different monomers
C)One has branched chains while one is linear
D)One is made by addition polymerization,one by condensation

Question 22

Which of these polymers is made by the process of condensation polymerization?

A)Polyethylene
B)Polystyrene
C)Polyvinyl chloride
D)Polyethylene terephthalate

Question 23

Which is an amine group?

A)- OH
B)- NH₂
C)- COOH
D)- CONH₂

Question 24

Which equation below shows the addition polymerization of ethylene?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 25

What do the "big six" polymers have in common?

A)They all are formed by addition polymerization
B)They all are formed by condensation polymerization
C)They all are thermoplastics (can be melted and shaped)
D)They all contain branched chains

Question 26

A polymer that is made from two different monomers is known as a

A)dimer.
B)dipolymer.
C)copolymer.
D)multimer.

Question 27

Which of these statements are correct for condensation polymerization only?
i.Monomer units chemically bond together
ii.Product contains all the atoms of the starting material
iii.A second product,like water,is also formed during the polymerization process

A)i only
B)i and ii
C)ii only
D)i and iii

Question 28

Which bond represents the peptide bond?

A)I
B)II
C)III
D)IV

Question 29

Which of these represents a portion of a polyester molecule?

A)
B)
C)

Question 30

Which of these statements are correct for addition polymerization only?
i.Monomer units chemically bond together
ii.Product contains all the atoms of the starting material
iii.There is generally just one monomer

A)i only
B)i and ii
C)ii only
D)i and iii

Question 31

Which of these statements are correct for both addition and condensation polymerization?
i.Monomer units chemically bond together
ii.Product contains all the atoms of the starting material
iii.A second product,like water,is also formed during the polymerization process

A)i only
B)i and ii
C)ii only
D)ii and iii

Question 32

Which equation correctly shows the first step in the formation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by the process of condensation polymerization?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 33

These are the two monomers used to synthesize Kevlar. Which of the following represent the products formed after one condensation reaction between the monomers?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 34

How many carbon atoms are present in this monomer?

A)2
B)3
C)5
D)8

Question 35

In this molecule four different functional groups are circled. Which is the carboxylic acid functional group?

A)I
B)II
C)III
D)IV

Question 36

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is made from the monomer,CH₂
CHCl.Which would not be a possible arrangement in PVC?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 37

What do the letters HDPE represent?

A)High definition polyethylene
B)High density polyethylene
C)Hard durable polyethylene
D)Highly ductile polyethylene

Question 38

Consider the process of condensation polymerization.Which statement is false?

A)A small molecule like water is often formed as the monomers combine to form the polymer
B)The product contains all of the atoms of the starting materials
C)PET is formed using this process
D)Nylon is formed using this process

Question 39

Dacron is classified as a polyester.Which linkage is correct? (The gray areas represent the monomer backbones. )

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 40

Which of these represents an amino acid?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 41

Skin,hair,muscle,and enzymes are all made of protein,which is a natural polymer.Proteins are

A)polyesters.
B)polyethylenes.
C)polyamides.
D)polyalcohols.

Question 42

This symbol is found on the bottom of a Coke bottle.What does the number mean?

A)The bottle may be recycled because it is made from PET
B)The bottle can not be recycled because it is made from PET
C)The bottle may be recycled because it is made from HDPE
D)The bottle can not be recycled because it is made from HDPE

Question 43

Which raw material serves as the source for most polymers?

A)Crude oil
B)Natural gas
C)Minerals
D)Salts

Question 44

Proteins are polymers of amino acids held together by bonds.

A)protein
B)peptide
C)ester
D)acid

Question 45

Adipic acid,one of the monomers used to make nylon,has a total of six carbon atoms with two carboxylic acid functional groups.Which structure is correct?

A)(CH₂)₆ COOH
B)HO (CH₂)₆ OH
C)HOOC (CH₂)₄ COOH
D)HOOC (CH₂)₆ NH₂

Question 46

This pie chart gives the composition by weight of municipal solid waste (MSW) before recycling in 2008. Which of the following statements is not true?

A)There is about 2.6 times more paper waste than plastic waste
B)Plastic waste is more than the wood and glass waste combined
C)Plastic waste and food scraps are almost the same
D)The plastic and paper waste combined account for more than half the MSW

Question 47

Every year about 100 billion pounds of plastic are produced in the United States (over 350 pounds for every woman,man,and child).What strategies may be employed to reduce the amount of plastics going into landfills?

A)Incineration
B)Biodegradation
C)Recycling
D)All of these choices are correct

Question 48

Incineration of plastics can be used to generate energy.One of the "big six" plastics releases hydrochloric acid,HCl,when incinerated.Which one?

A)LDPE
B)PVC
C)PET
D)PS

Question 49

Which atoms are present in all proteins?

A)C,H,O,N
B)C,H,O,S
C)C,H,O only
D)C,H,N only

Question 50

This symbol is an example of the coding symbols found on packaging materials.These symbols let consumers know

A)how the plastic was made.
B)how to recycle the package.
C)if the plastic is dangerous.
D)the intended use of the material.

Question 51

What is biodegradation?

A)Breaking up the plastics into small pieces before putting them into a landfill
B)Using bacteria and fungi to eat the waste plastic
C)A way to dispose of natural polymers only
D)Breaking down polymers into carbon dioxide and water

Question 52

Nathaniel Wayeth,developer of the plastic soft drink bottles,dreamed of the day when we will be able to melt down plastic bottles,reinforce the fibers and make car bodies.Then when we are done with the cars,melt down the car bodies and make bottles out of them.This would be an ultimate example of

A)biodegradation.
B)incineration.
C)recycling.
D)reuse.

Question 53

Which functional groups are present in all amino acids?

A)Amine ( - NH₂) groups only
B)Acid ( - COOH) groups only
C)Amine and acid groups
D)Single and double bonds between carbon atoms

Question 54

One of the monomers used to make nylon is 1,6-diaminohexane (also known as hexamethylene diamine).How many amine ( - NH2) groups does it have?

A)None
B)1
C)2
D)6

Question 55

PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is classified as a polyester because

A)it contains many ester linkages.
B)its monomer has ester functional groups.
C)it is used to make bullet proof vests.
D)it is made by addition polymerization.

Question 56

This is a representation of a plastic bag being stretched.Which statement best describes what is happening in the figure?

A)Molecular chains shift from a random orientation to align parallel to each other in the direction of the pulling force
B)During the pulling,the mixed-up polymer chains cross link to make the polymer stronger
C)The pulling force creates branches,causing a switch from high density to low density polymer
D)It is only a temporary distortion;once the pulling force stops,the plastic snaps back to the original orientation

Question 57

Nylon is classified as a polyamide because it contains which of the following linkages?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 58

Will synthetic polymers always have to be made from crude oil?

A)Yes,because although other technologies exist,they are too costly for large scale use
B)No,but there are no funds to research new technologies needed
C)Yes,but more crude oil will have to be diverted from other uses
D)No,new technologies are being developed to use bio-based raw materials

Question 59

When I and II react together to make nylon,what are the products of the first condensation reaction?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 60

These are the densities of some common plastics: PET 1.38 to 1.39 g/mL;HDPE 0.95 to 0.97 g/mL;LDPE 0.90 to 0.91 g/mL.Based on these densities,which plastic/s will sink in an ethanol/water mixture that has a density of 0.94 g/mL?

A)PET only
B)PET and HDPE
C)HDPE only
D)LDPE only

Question 61

Consider this table. How many pounds of plastics were produced per person in 2003?

A)0.369
B)3.69
C)36.9
D)369

Question 62

Which functional groups include a nitrogen atom? i.Carboxylic Acid
Ii)Ester
Iii)Amide
Iv)Amine

A)i and ii only
B)i and iv only
C)ii,iii and iv only
D)iii and iv only

Question 63

Polyethylene can be represented by this drawing. A molecule of polyethylene has n = 1000.What is the molar mass of this molecule? The atomic masses are: C = 12.01 g/mol;H = 1.01 g/mol.

A)1000 g/mol
B)14,030 g/mol
C)28,060 g/mol
D)56,120 g/mol

Question 64

Which synthetic polymer is a copolymer?

A)PVC
B)PS
C)HDPE
D)PET

Question 65

Which synthetic polymer has two forms,crystal and expandable?

A)PET
B)HDPE
C)LDPE
D)PS

Question 66

The regions of a polymer where the long polymer molecules are arranged neatly and tightly in a regular pattern is called the ________ region.

A)crystalline
B)amorphous
C)condensed
D)porous

Question 67

One approach to encourage more recycling is to institute a "bottle bill." What is a bottle bill?

A)A bill that outlaws the use of plastic bottles
B)A "container deposit law" that requires customers to pay a deposit for the bottle
C)A large container for recycling bottles
D)A bill that requires equal use of plastic and glass in bottles

Question 68

Which synthetic polymer is used to make shatter-resistant bottles and fleece fabric?

A)PET
B)HDPE
C)PVC
D)PS

Question 69

What chemicals replaced CFCs as polymer blowing agents?

A)CO₂ and pentane
B)CO₂ and H₂
C)Pentane and H₂
D)Halons

Question 70

Superglue is made from this monomer,cyanoacrylate. Which is a representation of the head-to-tail to head-to-tail arrangement of the polymer?

A)
B)
C)
D)

Question 71

PET contains what sort of linkage between the monomer units?

A)Ether
B)Ester
C)Amine
D)Peptide bond

Question 72

The general formula for coal is C₁₃₅H₉₆NOS,the molecular formula for methane is CH₄ and the molecular formula for dodecane is C₁₂H₂₆.Which will the heat of combustion of polyethylene be more similar to?

A)Coal
B)Methane
C)Dodecane
D)Hydrogen gas