Question

Silk is a

• A. Homo polymer
• B. Random copolymer
• C. Block copolymer
• D. Alternating copolymer

Hint:

Think of block copolymers as having "chunks" of different monomer types. Silk's crystalline (repeating glycine-alanine) and amorphous regions are a good example of this block structure.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Silk is primarily composed of the protein fibroin. Fibroin itself is largely made up of repeating sequences of a small number of amino acids, primarily glycine, alanine, serine, and tyrosine. This repetitive structure qualifies silk fibroin as a homopolymer, as it's essentially a polymer made from a single type of monomer unit (even though that “monomer” is a complex arrangement of these amino acids in a specific sequence). While minor variations and other proteins exist in silk, the dominant structure is consistent enough to be considered homopolymeric.