= Frank R. Mayo
{c}
\b[<Frank R. Mayo>], with <Frederick M. Lewis>, authored the 1944 copolymerization paper associated with the <Mayo-Lewis equation>. Its published title identifies both the general comparison of monomer behavior and the styrene–methyl methacrylate system.<Copolymerization. I. A Basis for Comparing the Behavior of Monomers in Copolymerization; The Copolymerization of Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate by Frank R. Mayo and Frederick M. Lewis>[Primary title, author byline and 1944 publication record]{ref} This documents a contribution to quantitative <polymer> chemistry without inferring additional biography from the surname.
The <monomer reactivity ratios> $r_1=k_{11}/k_{12}$ and $r_2=k_{22}/k_{21}$ compare <rate constants> for self-addition and cross-addition at each terminal chain type. They separate relative preferences from the absolute speed of reaction. That distinction is useful both in planning measurements and in interpreting what a fitted composition curve actually establishes.
For an original scaling example, take compatible propagation-rate units and set
$$
(k_{11},k_{12},k_{21},k_{22})=(2,1,1,2).
$$
The ratios are $(r_1,r_2)=(2,2)$. Multiplying every constant by 100 gives $(200,100,100,200)$ and exactly the same ratios. At an unchanged instantaneous monomer mixture, both sets therefore predict the same incorporated composition through the <copolymer composition equation>.
They do not predict the same rate of propagation at fixed concentrations of monomers and active chain ends. Each corresponding instantaneous rate is multiplied by 100. In a complete reacting system, active-end concentrations can themselves depend on initiation and termination, so the example is a controlled comparison rather than a universal reaction-time scaling law.
Thus a composition experiment alone need not determine absolute kinetic constants, even when it determines their ratios well. Independent rate observations supply a different kind of information. The original Mayo–Lewis contribution remains illuminating because it organizes measurable composition differences into a quantitative model, while the model's dimensionless parameters make clear which aspects of the underlying kinetics remain unmeasured.
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