Engage with a Physics Tutor: Enhance Understanding Through Hands-On Experiments and Interaction.

Priyanka Kumari guided Brandon Kirk on the process of creating a composite material using lignin-substituted PF resin and hemp fiber. They discussed the impact of water dilution, heating, and potential catalysts on the polymerization process, as well as the roles of activation energy and cross-linking. Brandon will perform trial reactions, and they will schedule a follow-up session to discuss the results and further refine the approach, with Brandon to confirm the date and topics.

Priyanka is tutoring Brandon, who needs to understand polymer chemistry for a grant proposal involving a lignin-substituted phenolic resin. She explains polymer basics, focusing on free radical polymerization and its three steps (initiation, propagation, termination). Brandon wants to pause the polymerization of his resin at the gel state for later curing. Priyanka advises him on temperature control and requests detailed information about his process and materials to help him achieve this. They plan to discuss his specific questions and challenges further on Monday.

Priyanka taught Brandon about chemical bonding, including ionic, covalent, hydrogen, and metallic bonds. The lesson incorporated the periodic table, electronegativity, valence electrons, the octet rule, ionization energy, electron gain energy, atomic orbitals, and Lewis structures, using examples like NaCl and NH3. Priyanka assessed Brandon's understanding at 80%.