When we made the polymer, the result of the polymer itself was the same as the time we had made the borax polymer in class. It was a stretchy, bouncy, white, moldable polymer that felt similar to silly putty. We then divided it into four equal parts and put each one into a beaker. We then poured the different liquids that we hoped would corrode, or break down, the polymer.
The image above shows the placement of the four polymers. The one furthest to the left is the control, which was not placed in any liquid. Then there is the one that was in the acetone, lemon juice, and lastly the ethanol.
The polymers in the nail polish remover and the ethanol were almost identical in appearance. They had a very wrinkly surface that resembled two small brains.
This is the one in the Acetone (Nail Polish remover).
This is the one in the Ethanol. The surface had many wrinkles and bumps, but they are difficult to see from the picture.
The third, the one in the lemon juice, broke down so quickly that the leftover glue monomers blended with the lemon juice to make a cloudy white liquid that looked like and had the consistency of milk. When compared to the size of the other two polymers, it is obvious how distinct the difference between the size of this one and the ones in the ethanol and acetone. The one in the lemon juice broke down much more then any of the other ones and probably would have been completely gone within five more minutes.
Conclusion:
I learned that lemon juice has very corrosive behaviors. It has a pH level of only 2.3 compared to Ethanol with 7.0 and acetone with 6.5. This shows that the chemicals with lower pH levels showed to be much more corrosive. If I could redo this experiment, I would use multiple types of polymers to see if the corrosive liquids had different effects depending on what type of polymer it is. This could be beneficial in life to create substances that need to breakdown or remove polymers, such as recycling efforts, stain removers, and paint removers.
Questions:
1. What did the polymers look like after being broken down?
The polymers in the nail polish remover and the ethanol were almost identical in appearance. They had a very wrinkly surface that resembled two small brains. The third, the one in the lemon juice, broke down so quickly that the leftover glue monomers blended with the lemon juice to make a cloudy white liquid that looked like and had the consistency of milk.
2. Which corrosive material was best at breaking down the polymer?
The lemon juice definitely did the best of the 3 chemicals in breaking down the polymer.
3. Did the control test change after the 10 minutes?
No, the control stayed relatively the same throughout the 10 minutes. The only change was the slightest amount of it's moisture evaporating from the polymer, which made it slightly harder.
4. What happened when you stirred the polymer and corrosive?
The lemon juice broke down the polymer much faster when the mixture was in motion.
5. Did you make any mistakes while conducting the experiment?
No.
6. Would you like to change any of the procedures? Materials?
Yes, we did have of the amount of the borax and water because the amount that would have been made with the original amounts would have been very excessive. With this, we used the same proportions, but just to make a smaller amount to minimize waste.
7. Why do you think that alcohol is corrosive with a neutral pH?
In this experiment, the alcohol did not seem to be extremely corrosive with the polymer. I think that the reaction with the alcohal is more
8. What is acetone used for industrially? Does its applications have to due with its corrosive nature?
Acetone is the main ingredient in nail polish remover. Since nail polish is a polymer, and acetone is used to break it down and remove it, its properties are very corrosive.
No comments:
Post a Comment