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The Discovery of Poly(ethene) and Poly(propene) This essay will be carefully constructed to enable an audience with an understanding of chemistry at Advanced Subsidiary GCE level, to acknowledge the discoveries of both poly(ethene) and poly(propene). The concept of addition polymerisation is regarded as a free-radical reaction. This means that the reaction is started and maintained by compounds with an unpaired electron, more commonly known to us by the term 'radical'. Each step in addition polymerisation, produces a free-radical, with the exception of steps that bring the reaction to an end. During the polymerisation of ethene, thousands of ethene molecules chemically bond together to create poly(ethene), widely known for its many uses as an insulator among others. The equation for the formation of poly(ethene) is: nCH2=CH2 [-CH2-CH2-]n. The number of molecules joining up is varying in amount, but is found to be somewhere in the region of 2000 to 20000. For the reaction to take...

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