Macromolecule Vs giant covalent bonding

Kahynickel

27 Apr 15, 04:39

Diamond and graphite are a giant covalent structure while nylon and polythane are macromolecule. sometimes Silica or diamond are describe as macrmolecule in cambridge marking scheme as well as in examiners' report.

Although both conatin many strong covalent bonds (for eample diamond and poly(ethene) but macromolecule is the correct terminolgy for a polymer since it is made from monomers but not graphite or diamond. So i think the term "macromolecule" should be used with polymers only and not with giant covalent structures.

UltimaOnline

27 Apr 15, 11:56

Originally posted by Kahynickel:

Diamond and graphite are a giant covalent structure while nylon and polythane are macromolecule. sometimes Silica or diamond are describe as macrmolecule in cambridge marking scheme as well as in examiners' report.

Although both conatin many strong covalent bonds (for eample diamond and poly(ethene) but macromolecule is the correct terminolgy for a polymer since it is made from monomers but not graphite or diamond. So i think the term "macromolecule" should be used with polymers only and not with giant covalent structures.

Macro = (super) large. By its broadest definition (based on linguistics), a macromolecule is simply any (super) large molecule, and hence includes both polymers and non-polymers.

To be precise, the term "polymeric macromolecule" (preferred) or "macromolecular polymer" (less preferred) should be used to describe polymers, rather than simply "macromolecule" (which is vague, as some macromolecules are non-polymers).

In describing diamond and silicon dioxide, Cambridge doesn't require the word "macromolecule" as a compulsory marking point, so you don't have to include this word in your answer if you don't like to use the word in this way.

SBS n SMRT

27 Apr 15, 18:00

i would think a fair answer scheme should be as follows:

Describe the structure of silicon / diamond . [1]

A: macromolecule / giant covalent structure [1m]