It has been shown that polymers of sufficient molecular weight are sensitive to shear forces. The large size of polymers results in restriction of bond angle conformers available due to chain and bond torsional strain, meaning polymers can accumulate force along their backbone as entropic potential energy . High molecular weight polymers undergo chain scission in response to strong shear forces, with the scission rate increasing with molecular weight . This molecular weight dependence is more accurately described as a polymer length dependence . It follows that shielded poly(GMA-co-PEGMA950) of sufficient DP is more easily influenced by shear forces in solution if the chain length is long enough, surpassing at least 100 units in length. The increased DP of the polymer also increases the viscosity of the sample. Prior literature has shown that highly viscous media decreases the effectiveness of ultrasonic micromixing , making it less likely that the dependence of gel time on DP is a result of mixing phenomena.