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polymer (/ˈpɒlɪmər/;[4][5] Greek poly-, "many" + -mer, "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules, or macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits.[6] Due to their broad spectrum of properties,[7] both synthetic and natural polymers play essential and ubiquitous roles in everyday life.[8] Polymers range from familiar synthetic plastics such as polystyrene to natural biopolymers such as DNA and proteins that are fundamental to biological structure and function. Polymers, both natural and synthetic, are created via polymerization of many small molecules, known as monomers. Their consequently large molecular mass, relative to small molecule compounds, produces unique physical properties including toughness, high elasticity, viscoelasticity, and a tendency to form amorphous and semicrystalline structures rather than crystals.

The term "polymer" derives from the Greek word πολύς (polus, meaning "many, much") and μέρος (meros, meaning "part"), and refers to large molecules whose structure is composed of multiple repeating units, from which originates a characteristic of high relative molecular mass and attendant properties.[3] The units composing polymers derive, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass.[3] The term was coined in 1833 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, though with a definition distinct from the modern IUPAC definition.[9][10] The modern concept of polymers as covalently bonded macromolecular structures was proposed in 1920 by Hermann Staudinger,[11] who spent the next decade finding experimental evidence for this hypothesis.[12