Summary and Final Tasks

Summary

In this lesson, we have covered many of the common characterization techniques (DSC, SEC, end group analysis, etc.) that are used to analyze various properties of polymers (thermal transitions, molar mass distributions, number average molar mass, etc.). These techniques are by no means the only ones and in particular, we did not discuss spectroscopy, which encompasses so many important characterization techniques.

In the next lesson, we will be learning about mechanical properties of polymers. Polymers have some very unique mechanical properties and can differ significantly from materials you likely learned about in MatSE 201. Even though we will be talking mostly about properties of “bulk” polymers, don’t forget that the molecular scale chemistry, bonding, and intermolecular interactions, and chain conformations that we spent so much time learning about – these things are all at the core of WHY polymers have certain bulk properties.

Reminder - Complete all of the Lesson 12 tasks!

You have reached the end of Lesson 12! Review the checklist on the Lesson 12 Overview / Checklist page to make sure you have completed all of the activities.