At the end of this activity, students should be able to classify polymers and describe their basic types: straight-chain, cross-linked, thermoplastic, thermosetting, elastomers, explain the mechanism of the addition reaction leading to polymerisation, using the example of polyethene, describe the properties of the most common addition polymers as: polypropene, PVC, polystyrene and Teflon and explain how plasticisers work.

Originally released by Learnetic, 2016.