Polymers are large molecules formed by repetitive combinations of simple subunits called monomers. There are three main types of polymers discussed in the document: proteins, made of amino acid monomers; nucleic acids like DNA, made of nucleotide monomers; and carbohydrates like starch, made of simple sugar monomers. Plastics are also polymers, with monomers like vinyl chloride that bond together into long chains to form synthetic polymers like polyvinyl chloride (PVC).