Author Topic: Monomer  (Read 2010 times)

pat

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Monomer
« on: December 02, 2018, 09:05:24 PM »
Just under 9% of players got monomer so it obviously isn't an obscure word, but I very much doubt it deserves its status as a common word.

Morbius

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2018, 09:25:02 PM »
I agree it's not a common word.  I think a 9% hit rate makes it pretty obscure.

mkenuk

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2018, 10:40:53 PM »
Not obscure, but not really common to someone like me who has very little background in Science;
I have seen the word, but I wouldn't have a clue about explaining to someone what it meant

I've a feeling, however that both monomer and its close relation polymer would be familiar to someone taking 'O'-level Chemistry (Year / Grade 12)

rogue_mother

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2018, 03:28:29 AM »
I agree that monomer should be reclassified as less common, especially since isomer was reclassified years ago. It seems to me that the word polymer, however, is more widely known outside of high school chemistry class.
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mkenuk

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2018, 09:09:07 PM »
monomer was played by 55 from 617  (just under 9%)

voltaic in yesterday's vocational 10-letter game managed 30 hits from 308 (9.7%)

Another candidate for reclassification perhaps?

rogue_mother

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2018, 03:15:50 AM »
I do believe that whether or not voltaic should be reclassified, it merits its own topic in the forum, rather than tacking it onto the thread of an unrelated word.
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mkenuk

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2018, 04:47:40 AM »
I take your point, RM; normally I would have submitted my post about voltaic as a new item.

What I wanted to do here, however. was to highlight the similarity between the two cases - two 'scientific' words from different games but with one thing in common - that they were both played by very few participants.

I would add that if I had opened a new thread for voltaic, I would have certainly made a reference to monomer;
this latter word would then have been the subject of three different threads!
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 10:34:38 AM by mkenuk »

Morbius

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2018, 10:59:46 AM »
I'm one of the 90% of players who missed voltaic.  But when I saw the word I immediately recognized it and knew what it meant.  I also missed monomer, but when I saw it, I didn't recognize it or know what it meant.  I reckon more people would recognize voltaic than monomer.  Perhaps the similar hit rates don't necessarily indicate equal degrees of awareness by players.  Maybe voltaic was just more difficult to spot.

mkenuk

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2018, 10:31:10 PM »
To be honest, I can't remember ever seeing the word voltaic before playing it in this game!

I did, however, have a vague idea that voltic (no 'a') might be a word, so I tried playing it and got the inevitable 'sorry, not known'.
It was while checking the COD that I found, not voltic but voltaic.

I played that and  was quite amazed when it showed as 'common'.

However, even though it contributed to a slightly fortuitous rosette, I still think it should be reclassified.

Calilasseia

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2018, 02:50:15 PM »
Voltaic pile was the original term used to describe an electrical battery. Derived from the fact that the first working prototype was produced by Alessandro Volta, the Italian scientist after whom the Volt is named.
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birdy

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2018, 08:11:23 AM »
I've probably come across voltaic at some point though I don't remember where, I definitely have heard/seen polymer, I but don't think I have ever seen/heard monomer.

Calilasseia

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #11 on: January 03, 2019, 10:57:30 AM »
Monomer is definitely familiar to me, in no small part due to my having studied chemistry to A-level here in the UK. Plus, where I live, there's a former ICI chemical plant about 4 miles from my home, which used to play host to tanker lorries labelled as containing 'vinyl chloride monomer', for the manufacture of PVC.

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Alan W

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Re: Monomer
« Reply #12 on: August 02, 2022, 03:49:31 PM »
Monomer was made rare in 2019.
Alan Walker
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