 Coil-stretch transition

A coil-stretch transition is a sharp change from a coiled to a substantially extended polymer conformation under sufficiently strong extensional flow. The driving extensional strain rate must compete with the chain's relaxation rate, and the available residence time matters. A long polymer relaxation time lets a weak but sustained flow produce a large effect. The Hookean dumbbell in planar extension below isolates this competition; its unbounded growth signals a model limitation, rather than a prediction of infinitely long molecules.