Polarized infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflection was used to investigate the adsorption of PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) onto PS (polystyrene) that was previously adsorbed onto oxidized silicon from dilute solution in carbon tetrachloride at 30 degrees C. The carbonyl group of PMMA forms hydrogen bonds with surface silanol groups, giving segment-surface interaction energy of 4 kT as against 1 kT for PS (k is the Boltzmann constant, T the absolute temperature). The formation of hydrogen-bonding by PMMA was unaffected, in rate or amount, by preadsorbed PS, but a lesser total amount of PMMA adsorbed onto PS, resulting in a higher average bound fraction. The histogram of the mass adsorbed, attributable to subpopulations of chains with different bound fractions, was inferred by subtracting infrared spectra acquired at successive times. Whereas this histogram was broad and bimodal for adsorption onto bare surface, it was narrower and unimodal for adsorption onto preadsorbed PS.