Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab Investigation

Results:
You could tell there was a chemical reaction because the physical properties of the mixture changed when the ethanol and sodium silicate met. The reaction was nearly instantaneous as the film developed where the ethanol was.

Some of the similarities of this polymer and the previous one would be; they are both polymers, very moldable, and were solids. Although, the first polymer we made was much more easily moldable and soft, whereas the second was harder, more waxy and crumbly.


Here is a picture of the first polymer we made. This was the one made from the glue and borax.


Here is a picture of the second polymer we made. As you can se in the pictures, they are both very similar visually to each other.

Conclusion:
I learned that Sodium Silicate Polymers would probably not be a good material to make products out of, because it is not very durable. The product would crumble and fall apart too easily to make very many things out of it. Whereas plastics and carbon based polymers are much more sturdy, making them better to make products from. This is probably due to the bonds between the monomers in the carbon based polymers are stronger then the ones in the Sodium Silicate Polymer. One mistake that was made during this lab was that the graduated cylinder was not washed off when measuring the ethanol and sodium silicate so there was a slight residue of chalky polymer at the bottom