Meaning & use
monomer
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnicalchemistry
A small molecule that can join with many others of the same kind to form a large molecule called a polymer.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a monomer' or 'monomers' for more than one.
Patterns
- a monomer of something
- monomers join together
- monomers combine to form a polymer
Glucose is a monomer that links with others to form starch.
In the reaction, thousands of monomers join to make a single long polymer chain.
The factory produces monomers that are later turned into plastics.
Word forms
| plural | monomers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a monomer unit
- Each monomer unit adds to the growing chain.
- monomers join together
- Under heat, the monomers join together into a solid plastic.
- a simple monomer
- Ethylene is a simple monomer used to make polythene.
- monomer to polymer
- The process changes a monomer to a polymer.
Word family
- polymer noun
- A large molecule made of many monomers joined together.
- polymeric adjective
- Relating to or made of polymers.
- polymerize verb
- To join monomers into a polymer.
Commonly confused: monomer or polymer?
monomer vs polymer
A monomer is a small single unit; a polymer is the large molecule made of many monomers. Think of monomers as beads and the polymer as the necklace.
Practice
In chemistry, many small molecules called ___ link together to form a polymer.
Choose one answer.
Monomers are the small units that join to make a polymer. Polymers are the large result, not the starting units; atoms are even smaller and not the repeating units, and isotopes are variants of an element.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “monomer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.