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I need help with this! It's one of my Chemistry questions and any answers I find make no sense to me...Help!

2007-04-02 11:56:10 · 3 answers · asked by Kay 1 in Science & Mathematics Chemistry

This is the exact question: What does the subscript "n" mean in the empirical formula for polyvinyl acetate? And this is the empirical formula for polyvinyl acetate: (C(sub)4 H(sub)6 O(sub)2) (sub)n

2007-04-02 11:58:52 · update #1

3 answers

Repetition. For example, cellulose is a polymer of glucose. The formula for one glucose molecule in cellulose is C6H10O5. To indicate the cellulose polymer you can write (C6H12O5)n, where n is a subscript. In your specific example the formula is for one unit, or monomer, of polyvinyl acetate in the polyvinyl acetate polymer (mono=one, poly=many), and the n indicates that this formula repeats itself many times. And yes, C4H6O2 is the correct formula for the repeating part of polyvinyl acetate.

Lastly, n is usually an integer (i.e. a multiple of whole numbers, like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. not 1.3 or 2.7, etc.)

2007-04-02 11:58:52 · answer #1 · answered by Some Body 4 · 3 0

"Some body" has answered the question completely, so award him full points. In partricular, if you have polyethylene, the polymerization of ethylene CH2=CH2 yields -(CH2-CH2)n-. That is the meaning of n.

2007-04-02 19:07:28 · answer #2 · answered by steve_geo1 7 · 0 0

"n" simply means number. For example, in the ideal gas law, PV=nRT, n means number of moles. In your case it would mean the number of that ATOM.

OR....exactly like what the guy above me said..."repetition."

2007-04-02 19:01:22 · answer #3 · answered by Logan 4 · 0 0

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