Final answer:
The degree of crystallinity in polymers impacts transparency, tensile strength, and melting point. A higher degree of crystallinity generally leads to lower transparency, higher tensile strength, and a higher melting point.
Step-by-step explanation:
The degree of crystallinity of a polymer affects several physical properties. In terms of the options provided:
- (a) Transparency - Polymers with a high degree of crystallinity tend to be less transparent due to light scattering by crystalline regions, whereas polymers with a low degree of crystallinity or amorphous polymers tend to be more transparent.
- (b) Tensile strength - Polymers with greater crystallinity usually exhibit higher tensile strength because the well-ordered molecular chains provide greater load-bearing capacity.
- (c) Melting point - The melting point of a polymer increases with higher crystallinity because more energy is required to disrupt the orderly crystal lattice.
Therefore, the degree of crystallinity affects all of the above: transparency, tensile strength, and melting point.