(a) In polyvinyl chloride shown in Table 12.6, which bonds have the lowest average bond enthalpy?

Although polyethylene can twist and turn in random ways, the most stable form is a linear one with the carbon backbone oriented as shown in the following figure:

The solid wedges in the figure indicate bonds from carbon that come out of the plane of the page; the dashed wedges indicate bonds that lie behind the plane of the page. (a) What is the hybridization of orbitals at each carbon atom? What angles do you expect between the bonds?

(c) What atomic orbitals are involved in the stacking of graphite sheets with each other?

Silicon has the diamond structure with a unit cell edge length of 5.43 Å and eight atoms per unit cell. (a) How many silicon atoms are there in 1 cm³ of material?

Employing the bond enthalpy values listed in Table 8.4, estimate the molar enthalpy change occurring upon (a) polymerization of ethylene. (b) formation of nylon 6,6. (c) formation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

(b) When subjected to high pressure and heated, polyvinyl chloride converts to diamond. During this transformation which bonds are most likely to break first?

(c) Employing the values of average bond enthalpy in Table 8.3, estimate the overall enthalpy change for converting PVC to diamond.