Light transmission and the formation and decay of spherulites in polythene

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Abstract
The effect of increasing and decreasing temperature on the light transmission of polythene has been measured. On raising the temperature of a sheet of polymer the light transmitted increases steadily at an increasing rate until the sample becomes glass clear at the melting point (ca. 112°C.). On cooling from the melt the specimen becomes very opaque a few degrees below the melting point, then becomes much more transparent and thereafter the light transmission decreases as temperature falls, the transmission‐temperature curve approximating to the curve for rising temperature. Changes in the spherulite structure of polythene film on heating and cooling have been observed under the microscope and recorded on a cinéfilm. Decay of spherulites on heating is seen not to occur by the reverse of the process by which they are formed from the melt, and the light transmission results are discussed in relation to the spherulitic structure of the polymer.

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