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What is the relationship between the molecular weight and the glass transition temperature of a polymer? Provide experimental evidence to support your answer.

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The relationship between the molecular weight and the glass transition temperature  Tg  of a polymer is not a simple linear correlation, but there is a general trend that as the molecular weight of a polymer increases, the glass transition temperature also increases. This relationship can be attributed to the increased chain entanglements and intermolecular interactions in higher molecular weight polymers, which lead to a higher energy requirement for segmental motion and thus a higher Tg.Experimental evidence to support this relationship can be found in various studies that have investigated the effect of molecular weight on the glass transition temperature of different polymers. For example:1. Fox and Flory  1950  studied the relationship between molecular weight and Tg for polyvinyl acetate  PVAc  and found that the glass transition temperature increased with increasing molecular weight. They proposed the Fox-Flory equation to describe this relationship:Tg M  = Tg   + K/Mwhere Tg M  is the glass transition temperature of the polymer with molecular weight M, Tg   is the glass transition temperature of the polymer with infinite molecular weight, and K is a constant.2. In a study by Bueche  1956 , the glass transition temperature of polystyrene was found to increase with increasing molecular weight. The results showed that the Tg increased from 85C for a polystyrene sample with a molecular weight of 2,000 g/mol to 105C for a sample with a molecular weight of 200,000 g/mol.3. A study by Kwei and Kwei  1970  investigated the effect of molecular weight on the glass transition temperature of poly methyl methacrylate   PMMA . They found that the Tg increased from 85C for a PMMA sample with a molecular weight of 10,000 g/mol to 105C for a sample with a molecular weight of 1,000,000 g/mol.These experimental studies, along with others, provide evidence for the general trend that the glass transition temperature of a polymer increases with increasing molecular weight. However, it is important to note that this relationship can be influenced by other factors, such as the presence of additives, the degree of crystallinity, and the chemical structure of the polymer.
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