How do you make polymer?

Question

I want to make the Polymer that you use to make instant snow with.

What do you need to make it.

Answer 1

it can't be homemade.. sorry.

Organic polymers can be made by forcing pressure on alkanes/alkenes and in the presence of a catalyst.

EDIT: what the guy above me has taught you to make is CHEESE not plastic =S vinegar will cause the casein in milk to coagulate into curds..

Answer 2

i'm not sure about the 'fake snow' to which you refer.

but i do have a fun experiment to make plastic (based on polymers) with house hold ingredients!

1) simmer a pint of milk (not boil)

2) add 20 ml of white vinegar

3) stir until you see white/yellow rubbery lumps

4) turn off heat and cool mixture

5) sieve off the liquid and keep the lumps

6) kneed the lumps like a dough (gloves is a good idea!)

7) shape as desired

8) leave a day or two to harden

9) paint or varnish

hey presto! plastic from milk!

ok! you haven't made snow! but plastic from milk and vinegar!

would impress any science teacher!

the science bit: the heat and acid of the vinegar have precipitated the caesin from the milk, caesin behaves like a polymer.

EDIT: obviously i didn't mean literal plastic! and if thats how you make cheese, i'll skip your cheese and wine parties!!  

(no offence meant, glad to see people actually checking up on their answers :) )

Answer 3

Starting in 1811 Henri Braconnot did pioneering work in derivative cellulose compounds, perhaps the earliest important work in polymer science. The term polymer was coined in 1833 by Jöns Jakob Berzelius. The development of vulcanization later in the nineteenth century improved the durability of the natural polymer rubber, signifying the first popularized semi-synthetic polymer. In 1907, Leo Baekeland created the first completely synthetic polymer, Bakelite, by reacting phenol and formaldehyde at precisely controlled temperature and pressure. Bakelite was then publicly introduced in 1909.

Despite significant advances in synthesis and characterization of polymers, a correct understanding of polymer molecular structure did not emerge until the 1920s. Before that, scientists believed that polymers were clusters of small molecules (called colloids), without definite molecular weights, held together by an unknown force, a concept known as association theory. In 1922, Hermann Staudinger proposed that polymers consisted of long chains of atoms held together by covalent bonds, an idea which did not gain wide acceptance for over a decade, and for which Staudinger was ultimately awarded the Nobel Prize. Work by Wallace Carothers in the 1920s also demonstrated that polymers could be synthesized rationally from their constituent monomers. An important contribution to synthetic polymer science was made by the Italian chemist Giulio Natta and the German chemist Karl Ziegler who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963 for the development of the Ziegler-Natta catalyst. In the intervening century, synthetic polymer materials such as Nylon, polyethylene, Teflon, and silicone have formed the basis for a burgeoning polymer industry. These years have also shown significant developments in rational polymer synthesis. Most commercially important polymers today are entirely synthetic and produced in high volume, on appropriately scaled organic synthetic techniques.

Synthetic polymers today find application in nearly every industry and area of life. Polymers are widely used as adhesives and lubricants, as well as structural components for products ranging from children's toys to aircraft. They have been employed in a variety of biomedical applications ranging from implantable devices to controlled drug delivery. Polymers such as poly (methyl methacrylate) find application as photoresist materials used in semiconductor manufacturing and low-k dielectrics for use in high-performance microprocessors. Recently polymers have also been employed in the development of flexible polymer-based substrates for electronic displays.

For more info, you can go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer#His...

Hope I helped. :)