M.M
Structure and formula
In the diagram above, we can see that styrene (a monomer) undergoes polymerization in order to create polystyrene. The monomers are all connected and that constitutes the structure of polystyrene. The formula for it is (C8H8)n. The "n" means that this molecule is repeated over and over again in a long chain (Polymer Science Learning Center, 2003).
Intra- and intermolecular forces
The intermolecular force of polystyrene are dispersion forces. The reason for this is because dipole-dipole forces only exist in polar molecules, and hydrogen bonding only exists when H-N, H-F, and H-O bonds are present. The dispersion forces (aka london forces) are temporary dipoles that result from an uneven distribution of electrons in all molecules. This is the weakest of intermolecular forces (Slide Player, 2016). The presence of weak dispersion forces between the chains of the polymer also explains its physical properties (Buzzle, 2016).
The intramolecular force is covalent bonding since it is between two non-metals C and H.