What is a Copolymer?
Some polymers contain only one kind of monomer, while others contain two or more different monomers. When there are two, they often alternate when they are polymerized. This second kind is called a copolymer. What are some natural polymers? There are many natural polymers made by plants and animals. Sugar molecules can be linked together in chains to form polymers. When glucose molecules are joined together, either starch or cellulose will be made. Neither of these are copolymers, since they use the same monomer over and over. glucose-glucose-glucose-glucose-glucose-glucose-glucose-glucose (etc) Starch is found in corn, potatoes, and grains of all kinds. It is the food storage for the seed, so that the new plant will have an energy source until it can use photosynthesis to make its own. Cellulose is found in cotton and wood. It has the same structure as starch, except for the shape of the bond joining them together (more on this when we get to food chemistry). When amino acids are join
In chemistry, a polymer is a chain of molecules made by linking many small molecules together. Polymers come in different varieties, one kind being the copolymer. A copolymer is made when two different types of molecules are joined in the same polymer chain. Each of the two types of molecules is called a monomer, and the arrangement of the monomers leads to different categories and subcategories of copolymers. For example, an alternating copolymer consists of regularly alternating monomers A and B, so the copolymer chain goes: A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B. A random copolymer is one with random sequences of A and B, such as B-A-A-A-B-A-B-A-A-B-B. Periodic copolymers are yet more complicated, since they consist of A and B monomers arranged in a repeating sequence. For instance, if the A and B sequence described in the second example above were to repeat without changing, even though the sequence itself seems random, this would be a periodic copolymer. Block copolymers have perhaps the simplest struct
