Physical Constants of Linear Homopolymers

This book is a compilation of some fundamental properties of polymers, arranged alphabetically in one table. It should prove useful in practical applications of polymers and in the development of theories of polymer behavior. Much of the impetus for studies of new polymers derives from the desire to understand how molecular structure in- fluences physical properties. A large quantity of data has been generated in pursuit of this goal, and certain consistent trends have been discovered. It is hoped that further progress in this area will be accelerated by bringing together the published data on polymers in this form. The physical properties listed were selected for the following reasons. Firstly, they are fundamental quantities from which other properties may be deduced. Secondly, they can be determined reproducibly in different laboratories, and finally, they have been reported for a sufficient number of polymers to justify inclusion. The table of polymers has been arranged so as to economize on space, to keep the size of the book within reasonable proportions, and to facilitate scanning. The device of inverting the names tends to group similar compounds to aid in searching. Because of the ease with which the table can be surveyed it was felt that supplementary indexes by melting point or glass temperature would be unnecessary. References are given to the literature cited, but unfortunately it is not possible to indicate the reference next to each datum without greatly expanding the size of the table.