Describe the following:

 Elements: Elements are simplest form of substance which cannot be broken down
using simple chemical reactions. An element must have same no of protons, the most
abundant elements are helium which has 1 proton, hydrogen has 2 protons and oxygen
has 8 protons. There are 118 elements known today.1
Example: Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Sodium (Na).

 Molecules: It is a specie which has properties of the elements it is made from, it is

formed when elements of same or different types are combined together by chemical
bonds. These bonds are made by exchanging electrons. Molecules can be very large
and complex depends how many elements combine together to form a molecule.
Example: Oxygen (O2) contains two oxygen atoms, ozone layer (O3) which contains
3 atoms of oxygen, water (H2O) contain two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen.2

 Compounds: When elements are joined together by a chemical bond compounds

are formed. When a compound is formed the element loses properties of parent atom
and develop new ones. Symbols letters and numbers are used to represent elements
that are combined.

1
https://www.chemicool.com/definition/element.html.
2
https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/molecule.
 Example: Salt (NaCl), Carbon Dioxide (CO2).3

Describe Mechanical Properties of Polymers:

 Tensile Strength: The ability to withstand the applied force, without being
deformed, stretched or break is called tensile strength of any polymer. The force
required to break the polymer is called ultimate tensile strength. 4 It can be measured
by applying stress on object by various mechanical means. 5

3
https://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/textbook/compounds.html.
4
https://www2.virginia.edu/bohr/mse209/chapter16.htm?downloadURL=true&loId=FB2F3598-E85C-477D-
A681-03E224BE01AC.
5
http://www.matweb.com/reference/tensilestrength.aspx.
  Toughness: It is the amount of energy that a material can absorb before point of
break. If we make a plot of stress vs. strain then the area under this plot is toughness
of a material.6

 Ductility: Polymer material can undergo plastic deformation, which means unable
to return to its original shape after applying a considerable amount force, it is known
as ductility. This behavior of polymers also depends on temperature, at high
temperature polymers are more ductile and have high impact of toughness. The
brittle to ductile transition is one of the property which is used in selection of
material, before the use of material in any construction we must know the limit of
point of breakage.7

6
https://pslc.ws/macrog/mech.htm.
7
http://polymerdatabase.com/polymer%20physics/Crazing2.html.
  Brittleness: It is the property of a material which shows deformation when stress
is applied on them, they have very little tendency to withstand against force or to
avoid deformation. They are characterized by poor tensile strength, unable to resist
impact, and high vibration loads. Highly brittle materials are inorganic and non-
metallic.8

 Stiffness: It is one of the very important property of a polymer which can be

described by flexural modulus and bending modulus of elasticity.
Flexural modulus shows the bending ability of a material, it shows how much a
material can resist bend when it is put under stress. Higher the flexural modulus more
the stiffer the material is, lower flexural modulus more flexible the material is.
Bending modulus is used to describe the stress-strain relationship again used to check
the stiffness of a material.9

8
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/brittleness.
9
https://omnexus.specialchem.com/polymer-properties/properties/stiffness.
 Images of Crystalline Polymer:
  Images of Amorphous Polymer:

 Types of Bonding:
There are three types of bonds which are as follows:
 Ionic Bond: It involves complete transfer of electron from one atom to the other,
one atom carries a positive charge the other carries a negative charge. The charges
are opposite so they attract each other and form a strong bond.10

 Covalent Bond: It involves electron being shared between atoms, a stable state is
achieved when an atom’s valence shell is full, and so they complete their valence
shell by sharing of electron.

 Intermolecular Bonds: These bonds are made when atom of one molecule
attract atom from another molecule. They are much weaker bonds, like hydrogen
bond it involves covalent sharing of electrons, those atoms which have stronger

10
https://www.dummies.com/education/science/anatomy/4-types-of-chemical-bonds/.
 affinity for electrons are called high electronegative.11

 Isomerism: It is a phenomena where one or more chemical compounds have same

molecular formula but different structural formula it is called isomerism. They have
same chemical formula but has different arrangement of atoms. Those compounds
which exhibit this phenomena are called isomers.
Example: Protium, Deutrium and Tritium are isomers of hydrogen.12

11
https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-2-molecular-biology/21-molecules-to-metabolism/types-of-
bonding.html.
12
https://byjus.com/chemistry/isomerism/.