ABSTRACT
The experimental methods that can be used to answer these serious questions; one is whether a single polymer chain really has entropic elasticity. Another is whether an elongated rubber shows affine deformation or not. Thermodynamics of rubbery material can be treated in parallel with thermodynamics of gas. The microscopic deformation of a single polymer chain must be proportional to the macroscopic rubber deformation. The theory of rubbery materials is built like “a two-storied house of cards,” without any experimental evidence on a single polymer chain entropic elasticity and affine deformation. The chapter shows that the morphological changes of stretched Natural Rubber without filler by atomic force microscopic (AFM). The use of AFM has enabled to visualize a small world consisting of atoms and molecules. According to the literature, trials on stretching single polymer chains by means of AFM have been extensively performed by many researchers.
