Enthalpy of Polymerization Calculation for Ethylene

  • Thread starter Thread starter utkarshakash
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    polymerization
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 7K views
utkarshakash
Gold Member
Messages
852
Reaction score
13

Homework Statement


The polymerization of ethylene to linear polyethylene is represented by the following reaction
[itex]nCH_{2}=CH_{2} \rightarrow (-CH_{2}-CH_{2}-)_{n}[/itex]
where n=large integer value
Calculate the enthalpy of polymerization per mol of ethylene at 298K if average bond enthalpies of bond dissociation for C=C and C-C are 590 and 331kJ/mol respectively

Homework Equations



The Attempt at a Solution



For one mole
[itex]ΔH_{poly} = BDE of C=C+4\times BDE C-H - BDE of C-C - 4\times BDE C-H[/itex]
=590-331
=259

But this is not correct.
 
Physics news on Phys.org