IGCSE Organic Chemistry Synthetic Polymers | 28/6/2022

Answers
Q1a) Unsaturated means that there are carbon double or carbon triple
bonds present in the compound. A hydrocarbon is an organic compound
that purely consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms.
Q1b) C2H4 + 3O2  2CO2 + 2H2O
Q1c) Ethene is often used in the production of the synthetic polymer
Poly(ethene) otherwise known as polyethylene. This polymer is very
valuable because of its uses in plastics such as plastic bags and plastic
bottles. Polyethylene is also used as cable insulation due to the fact that it
doesn’t conduct electricity.

Q2a) Polymerisation is the process of producing a chain of hydrocarbon

compounds to make what is called a polymer. In this case, propene has it’s
carbon carbon double bond broken to form propane and is then added to
many other propane compounds to form poly(propene).
Q2b) I can’t draw a displayed formula for propene but it’s quite simple. 3
carbon atoms with two of them having a double bond. 6 hydrogen atoms
are bonded to those carbons to form propene.
Q2c) I can’t draw this but its very simple. It’s a chain of 3 propanes bonded
to eachother. C3H6.
Q2d) In addition polymerization, one repeat unit (consisting of only one
monomer) is added to itself many times to form a polymer chain. The
addition part is referring to the fact that nothing is lost and that everything
stays whole in the process of polymerisation.
Q2e) Equation: nC6H5CHCH2  [C6H5CHCH2]n
Q2f) I can’t draw so I’ll explain. Simply take two carbon atoms from this
diagram and the atoms attached and now you have the repeat unit. Add a
double bond between these carbons and now you have the monomer. So
the monomer here is: CH2=CCH3C=OCH3.
Q2g) I personally think burying non-biodegradable plastics underground in
landfill site is more preferable to incineration. Incineration is more
expensive and not every country has the resources to pay for the process.
And on top of that, incineration releases harmful greenhouse gases into the
environment. Landfill sites whilst also harmful don’t have these problems as
they’re cheap and because the plastics stay intact preventing the release of
harmful greenhouse gases. Some places might not have a lot of space or
might be struggling with electricity generation so incineration might be the
better method for them but I believe landfills overall are the better plastic
disposal method due to the affordability and lower pollution levels.