consider a molecule of the polymer, polyethylene, and a protein molecule as if they were strings of beads. How would the string representing polyethylene differ from that representing a protein

When a macromolecule contains repeated similar sub units of a particular molecule:such a repeated units are called polymers.

Therefore, polyethylene is a micromolecule of repeated subunits called ethylene formed during polymerization ... Therefore, the small units joined together to form polyethylene are ethylene. These are alkene hydrocarbons, which are similar in structure with the carbon atoms linked by double bonds. When the Pi bonds of the double bonds breaks. hydrogen atoms forms free covalents bonds in all these sub units.

However, polypeptides is made of of 20 different amino acids, connected by peptides, disulfide and other bonds. Therefore the protein molecules will be different from the polyethylene and polymers. This is because each of the 20 amino acids has different R-groups, and It is this R-groups that determine the functional characteristics displayed by each amino acid sub - units. Therefore, the characteristics of a protein molecule will be determine by the type of Amino acids it contains.

Thus the beads of polyethylene will be the same, but different in proteins