Addition Polymerization
These are molecules or monomers of chloroethylene, better know as vinyl. To make vinyl plastic you need to join thousands of vinyl monomers together in a long chain, called a polymer (meaning “many monomers”). Plastic engineers use heat to force monomers together. In the case of the example above, the heat causes the double bonds (blue pipes) between the carbon atoms to break and reconnect to the next vinyl monomer.

Close window