Ch 2. Plastics

Question 1

What do the properties of plastics determine?

Answer 1

How the plastic will be made and the uses it will have in our everyday lives.

Question 2

Name four common plastics.

Answer 2

1. PVC
2. Polystyrene
3. Polythene
4. Polypropene

Question 3

What properties does PVC plastic have?

Answer 3

Flexibility, and electrical insulator.

Question 4

What properties does Polystyrene have?

Answer 4

Light, poor conductor of heat.

Question 5

What properties does Polythene have?

Answer 5

Light, unreactive, hard-wearing.

Question 6

What properties does Polypropene have?

Answer 6

Strong, High elasticity.

Question 7

What is PVC used for?

Answer 7

electric cable

Question 8

What is polystyrene used for?

Answer 8

Hot drinks cups, packaging

Question 9

What is polythene used for?

Answer 9

Kitchen bowls, basins, and buckets.

Question 10

What is polypropene used for?

Answer 10

Carpet fibres, ropes.

Question 11

What is a thermoplastic (or thermosoftening plastic)?

Answer 11

A plastic which softens or melts on heating and hardens on cooling. These can be reshaped.

Question 12

Give 4 examples of thermoplastics.

Answer 12

1. PVC
2. Polystyrene
3. Polythene
4. Polypropene (or polypropylene)

Question 13

What is a thermosetting plastic?

Answer 13

A plastic which does not soften or melt on heating.

Question 14

Give 2 examples of thermosetting plastics and their uses.

Answer 14

Bakelite - used for making electrical plugs and sockets.

Formica - used to make kitchen worktops.

Question 15

What is the advantage of using PVC instead of traditional materials? Use examples in your answer.

Answer 15

In gutters, it is more beneficial than using metals because it is lighter and does not corrode.

In window frames, it is better than wood because it does not rot or require painting.

*Please note: Plastics are also beneficial because they are cheap.

Question 16

What is the advantage of using plastics in carpet production?

Answer 16

Plastics such as:
- Nylon
- Polyester
- or Polypropene
fibres are better in carpet production than traditional wool because they are harder wearing.

Question 17

What is the disadvantage of using plastics in carpet manufacture?

Answer 17

They are not so warm or soft.

Question 18

Why is plastic production disadvantageous?

Answer 18

Huge quantities of plastics are thrown away, and since most of them are non-biodegradable, they harm the environment via pollution.

Question 19

How can plastic pollution be overcome?

Answer 19

1. Recycling
2. Burning waste plastics - this would provide energy, but would mean that plastics would be lost as a source of raw material. This could also be harmful to the environment as some plastics burn to release toxic chemicals, which just add to the pollution.

Question 20

How can plastics be recycled?

Answer 20

The plastics are collected and processed to form chemicals which can then be used for new plastic products.

Question 21

Give an advantage of burning plastics?

Answer 21

It provides energy.

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of burning plastics?

Answer 22

Plastics would be lost as a source of raw material.

This could also be harmful to the environment as some plastics release toxic chemicals when burned.

Question 23

What can all plastics CONTAINING CARBON burn to produce, if burned in a LIMITED AIR SUPPLY?

Answer 23

Carbon monoxide.

Question 24

What does PVC burn to produce?

Answer 24

Hydrogen chloride

Question 25

What does polyurethane burns to produce?

Answer 25

Hydrogen cyanide gas (poisonous).

Question 26

Name a common plastic that is used in everyday life.

Answer 26

Poly(ethene)

Question 27

What is poly(thene)?

Answer 27

A polymer made from the monomer ethane. | It is the simplest member of the alkene family.

Question 28

What are plastics made of? How are they made?

Answer 28

Most plastics are synthesised resources (man made by scientists) with chemicals obtained from crude oil. However, they can also be obtained naturally from the environment.

Question 29

What are plastics?

Answer 29

These are examples of polymers, which are very large molecules formed by joining together lots of smaller molecules called monomers.

Question 30

What are the uses of plastics determined by?

Answer 30

Their chemical properties.

Question 31

How are polymers named? Give an example.

Answer 31

The name of the polymer comes from the name of the monomer used to make it. For example: monomer ethene is used to to make polymer poly(ethene). *Please note, the monomer is always put in brackets, with 'Poly' as its prefix, when naming polymers.

Question 32

What is the name of the plastic made from propene?

Answer 32

Poly(propene)

Question 33

What is the name of the monomer used to make poly(penylethene)?

Answer 33

Penylethene

Question 34

What is polymerisation?

Answer 34

The process which involves the smaller monomer units joining together to form a larger polymer molecule.

Question 35

What is addition polymerisation?

Answer 35

Addition polymerisation is a process involving many small, unsaturated monomers combining to form one large polymer molecule.

Question 36

Name two important feedstocks in the petrochemical industry and state a way in which they can be used.

Answer 36

The alkenes; ethene and propene are used to make addition polymers.

Question 37

In what shape are monomers drawn?

Answer 37

In an H shape.

Question 38

How are polymers drawn from a monomer?

Answer 38

``` The monomer (in an H shape) has a double bond. The double bond is broken, and the monomer then acts as a repeating unit, being joined up by the open double bonds to form a larger molecule - a polymer. ```

Question 39

How can a monomer in a polymer be identified from the full structural formula?

Answer 39

The monomer is the repeating unit, with a double bond.

Question 40

How do we know that a polymer was formed by a addition polymerisation and not condensation polymerisation?

Answer 40

As the backbone of the polymer has only carbons, in the full structural formula.

Question 41

How can plastics be made or found naturally?

Answer 41

They can be synthesised in nature and even in our bodies.

Question 42

Give examples of natural polymers?

Answer 42

Carbohydrates such as: 1. Starch 2. Proteins

Question 43

What is the name of the monomer which makes up starch (polymer)?

Answer 43

Glucose.

Question 44

What physical property do plastics have in common?

Answer 44

They are pliable or able to be moulded.

Question 45

How is crude oil used to make plastics?

Answer 45

1. It undergoes fractional distillation to form naptha. 2. And then some of the longer chain fractions undergo catalytic cracking to form alkenes. 3. And then the alkenes undergo addition polymerisation to form plastics.

Question 46

Summarise the main chemical properties that plastics have in common with each other.

Answer 46

1. Easily moulded into different shapes | 2. Good Insulators of both heat and electricity.