Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

Polymer Chemistry: Experimental Methods

  • Page ID
    2905
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    There is a wide range of methods available for testing and characterizing polymers.

    • 1: Polymer Chemistry - Polymer Density
      Polymer samples usually are irregular in shape, making it difficult to measure their volume directly. There are four routine methods for determining the density of a polymer55. In the PCOL polymer project we will use one of these methods, called pycnometry. The density can be used to calculate the percent of a polymer that is crystalline.
    • 2: Polymer Chemistry - Tensile Testing
      In a tensile test, a sample of known dimensions (including thickness) is held between two clamps. As the sample is stretched, the force exerted by the instrument and the length (and sometimes cross-sectional area) of the sample are measured.
    • 3: Polymer Chemistry - Differential Scanning Calorimetry
      A differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measures the amount of energy (heat) absorbed or released by a sample as it is heated, cooled, or held at a constant temperature56. DSC has become the method of choice for quantitative studies of thermal transitions in polymers.

    Contributors and Attributions

    • David Whisnant (Wofford College). Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education through grants DUE #9950809 and DUE #9950296. Additional support was provided by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation.


    This page titled Polymer Chemistry: Experimental Methods is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Whisnant.

    • Was this article helpful?