eng Science and Education Publishing World Journal of Chemical Education 2375-1657 2016-05-17 4 2 25 31 10.12691/wjce-4-2-1 WJCE2016421 article Ronald P. D'Amelia ronald.p.damelia@hofstra.edu 1 Samantha Gentile 1 William F. Nirode 1 Ling Huang 1 Chemistry Department, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is one of the most important instrumental techniques used to study the molecular structure of organic polymers. As part of our efforts to increase instrumental use in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory we have developed a quantitative FTIR experiment for use in our quantitative and instrumental analysis courses. The objective of the experiment is to determine the percent composition of PVAc in copolymers and blends with polyethylene (PE) and n-vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). We report on the experimental methods used and the results obtained on examining the quantitative FTIR and elemental analysis of a series of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVAc) copolymers. The EVAc copolymers ranged from 10% to 70% PVAc. Copolymers and blends of n-vinyl pyrrolidone-polyvinyl acetate (PVP/PVAc) ranging from 20% to 80% PVAc were also analyzed. http://pubs.sciepub.com/wjce/4/2/1/wjce-4-2-1.pdf quantitative analysis elemental analysis Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy undergraduate laboratory experiment hand-on learning Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer n-vinyl pyrrolidone - vinyl acetate copolymer and blends