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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Polymer?

Also known as: monomer · repeat unit · degree of polymerisation

Definition 29.1 University Chemistry — Year 2 · Chapter 29 — Polymers: Synthesis, Structure and Properties

A polymer is a substance made of macromolecules, each built by the repeated linking of small molecules, the monomers. The repeat unit is the smallest group of atoms whose repetition makes up the chain; the degree of polymerisation XX of a chain is the number of monomer-derived units it contains.

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