Properties of plastics (5): Determination of the melting range

Principle
Plastic material does not have a determined melting point, but a melting range. The melting range depends on the chain-length and the structure of the polymer molecules. The melting behaviour of plastic materials are examined in this experiment. According to the state of knowledge of the learning group this experiment can be already used to deepen in polymer structures, however, it is also possible, to perform a phenomenological evaluation. In any case, the difference between the latter and melting should be picked out as a central theme (e.g., ice) and if necessary be demonstrated

Learning objectives

•  How to measure the melting point of plastics

Benefits

• Easy teaching and efficient learning by using interactive experimentation PHYWE-Software
• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with experiments for the topic Chemistry of Polymers matched with international curriculum: all topics are covered