ABSTRACT
Many of the terms, definitions, and concepts used in polymer science are not encountered in other branches of science and must be understood in order to fully discuss the synthesis, characterization, structure, and properties of polymers. While most of these are discussed in detail in subsequent chapters, some are of such fundamental importance that they must be introduced at the beginning.
The term polymer stems from the Greek roots poly (many) and meros (part). The word thus means “many parts” and designates a molecule made up by the repetition of some simpler unit called a mer. Polymers contain thousands to millions of atoms in a molecule that is large; they are also called macromolecules. Polymers are prepared by joining a large number of small molecules called monomers.
