The polymer has important characteristics that directly influence the
properties of the final product such as melting temperature,
crystallinity, malleability and flexibility . One of these properties is
the number-average molecular weight (Mn) and
weight-average molecular weight (Mw). The first one is
calculated by adding the molar masses of all chains generated throughout
the process and dividing it by the total number of chains. The latter is
calculated in a similar way, the focus, however, is found in the mass of
the polymeric chains themselves, which makes the molar mass of each
fraction contribute in a weighted way to the result.