Poly(sulfoalkyl methacrylate)s (PSSRMA) with different alkyl side chain lengths in 0.1 M NaCl aqueous solution at 25 degrees C were studied by laser light scattering (LLS). In static LLS, the weight-average molecular weights, z-average radii of gyration, and second virial coefficients of the PSSRMA samples were determined. In dynamic LLS, the Laplace inversion of the precisely measured intensity-intensity time correlation function leads to an estimate of the characteristic line width distribution G(Gamma). The characteristic line width [Gamma] increases rapidly when the polymer concentration is higher than similar to 10(-3) g/mL, which corresponds to a decrease in the surface tension. In the temperature range 25-47 degrees C, [Gamma] increases with the temperature. All LLS results consistently indicate that poly(sulfoalkyl methacrylate)s with a longer alkyl side chain have a more compact chain conformation in 0.1 M NaCl aqueous solution. A combination of static and dynamic LLS results enables us to establish a scaling equation of D (cm(2)/s) = k(D)M(-alpha D) With alpha(D) similar to 0.56 and k(D) in the range of (1.54 x 10(-4))-(2.07 x 10(-4)) depending on the alkyl side chain length. With this calibration, we were able to calculate the PSSRMA’s molecular weight distribution from G(Gamma).