Household Acids and Bases Lab

In this lab we will be test the pH levels of various household items such as soda, ammonia, drain cleaner, milk, vinegar, detergent, lemon juice, and baking soda. The problem was that we needed to find what the different pH’s of the different household items. I believed that if we tested household items, then some items will be more acidic or basic, because of the color change of the red cabbage juice. Here are some photos of the lab.

We did 8 test on various items and the first was the vinegar which was a clear pink color and it had a pH level of 2.92. The second test that we conducted was the ammonia which turned a dark green color and had a pH level of 11.09. The lemon juice was pink with a pH of 2.43 and the soda was a brown with a pH of 3.5. The drain cleaner was yellowish green that had a pH level of 12.33 and the laundry detergent was dark green with a pH of 9.46. The final two test were baking soda and skim milk and the baking soda was teal with a 7.82 pH and the skim milk was light blue with a pH of 6.87.

At the end of the testing I found my hypothesis to be correct, because all of the household items reacted to the cabbage juice and became more acidic or basic. This happens when we added either acids or bases into the test tube and when the red cabbage juice was added, they changed color and the chart showed very well how acidic or basic the substance was. If the substance is acidic, then it would turn pink, and if it was a darker color, then it is a base.  

Trinity and Beyond

In the movie Trinity and Beyond, it is just all about the history of the atomic bomb. On the day of June 1, 1945, the U.S. would start to enter into the nuclear age. The first bomb, Trinity was dropped in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Although the United States was not the first one to experiment with atomic energy, the German just began to create nuclear fusion and fisson with Uranium. This made scientist Albert Einstein send a letter to the President, stating that there needs to start being tests with nuclear power inorder to not face the threat of nuclear fallout from other countries. So the United States began to make test by using Plutonium and Uranium for nuclear fusion and fisson of the A-bomb. A few years later, during WWII there are two nuclear bombs that are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Fat Man and the Little Boy were dropped on Japan to end the war in the Pacific.
In later years, Dr. Edward Teller was to be named the Father of the H-Bomb. This bomb was composed of Hydrogen a to create a bigger explosion. The Soviet Union was the devolpers of the world largest atomic bomb called the Monster composed of 57 megatons.
The was were two types of bombs, the A-bomb and the H-bomb. That were made up of Plutonium and Uranium. When the nuclear bombs were dropped or detonated, they released about 10 million degrees of heat into the surrounding area. In about 1955 Germany had announced that they hadn't even had any testing set for the use of Atomic energy and it was just one big hoax. So really the entire time that the U.S had spent on the bomb testing Germany was just lying. Nuclear fusion is were an extra neutron is added to the nuclear of an atom and it releases a mass amount of energy. Fission is where a neutron is taken away.

ASU Field Trip Reflection

On this field trip, we took a trip to the chemistry department of Arizona State University. It was a fun field trip to go on, but I would not like to go and do that in my free time. My favorite part of the entire field trip was when we were shocked by the 50,000 volts. And in our first demonstration, Gary showed us many test were he used the six chemical reactions. But my favorite part of the demonstrations was when he cranked up the voltage and the current increased in the glass tube so that the electrons were shown being shot back and forth, because he turned off the lights and there was a purple light in the tube!

The next thing that we were shown was the science was fun department where we were able to see a hover craft. And my two favorite test that we saw is when the rubber ball was dropped and broke into pieces. This happened, because the rubber ball was froze to a certain temperature, so when it was dropped it cracked. It was frozen all the way through so the physical state was changed. She alos handed the pieces to Mrs. Binder and when we got back to Sunrise it was room temperature and it was rubber again. The next test that was done was when we turned on a fan that had different colors on each blade, so we turned the lights off and used a strobe light and got the blades in a "stopped" position. So it looked like the fan wasn't on. She taught us that the light sometimes plays tricks with our eyes and doesn't really show the real side of things.

Once we were done with the science is fun, we went into downstairs lab to see vacuums and electricity. Where when we all stood in a chain together and held hands while Devon Gomez sent an electrical charge through our arms when he touched his elbow with Ben Walker's. This happened because the 50,000 volts went through our bodies and the reason why we weren't electrocuted is because it was not a current that surged through our bodies. And the next part was that we went to the vacuum department where we were shown how a vacuum works. My favorite part about this demonstration is when he blew the balloon when it wasn't tied on the top and it was still full of air. This happened, because the inside air pressure is greater that inside of the beaker, so it sucks the balloon against the sides of the beaker.

  The last part of our field trip and probably the coolest part is when we were able to watch the glass blowing. She took a tube of glass and formed it into a swan. It seems like a very fun hobby and I hope I could be able to do this someday, because it seems like a ton of fun to do. Overall I thought it was a very fun field trip and I wish to do it again in 2nd half of the year.

   

Sodium-Silicate Polymer Lab

Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab

In this lab, the problem was that we had to find what would happen if you put sodium-silicate and ethyl alcohol together? And our hypothesis to this problem was what if we added the ethyl alcohol to sodium-silicate, then it will create a polymer in the form of a solid polymer. 

Our polymer

 Our mixture of sodium-silicate

 When the solution was created

Our results for the test were that we created a slimy, greasy, crumbling, hard, ball shaped, white, semi-transparent, bouncy, smooth, and waxy. This happened when we added the ethyl alcohol to the sodium-silicate and we began stirring the mixture. So this created a polymer that was made out of a chain of monomers. And once these two substances were added they were pressed together. It is also know that polymers consist of a lot of carbon and this was created once the two were mixed. 

In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct, due to the fact that when the sodium-silicate was mixed with the ethyl alcohol, it made a solid polymer from cross-linking elements. This happened when we added 3mL of ethyl alcohol to the 12mL of sodium-silicate. Once the solution was made, it formed quickly. They bonded together and it made a chunky white substance that was very odd feeling. In our research, there need to be monomers in a chain to create a polymer. So all of the monomers were added together and they created this polymer that consisted of sodium-silicate and ethyl alcohol.

What characteristics are similar between your two types of polymers you have made? Differences?

Well when we conducted test with each of the other polymers to see if they were bouncy and they both were. Also, they are both made out of sodium. But, one was more of a solid and one stretchy and returned back to its original shape.

Most commercial polymers are carbon based. What similar properties do carbon and silicon share that many contribute to their abilities to polymerize?

Silicon is element that is virtually the same as carbon so that the monomers are able to make into polymers.

 Plastics are made of organic (carbon based) polymers. What similarities does the silicone polymer share with the plastics?
In the lab, after about a 15 min. period, our polymer became really hard almost like plastic. It dried out and became a clear, hard little ball. Plastics are made up of half synthetic materials and they are high in molecular mass, just like how our polymer was at the end of the lab.


How did you know that a chemical reaction had taken place when the two liquids were mixed?
As soon as the ethyl alcohol was added into the sodium-silicate, it began to harden and become a very thick mixture. Then after some stirring, it became a slimy little white ball out of two clear liquids. 


How could you find out what liquid was pressed out of the mass of the crumbled solid as you formed the ball?
I could tell that there had been a little bit of excess ethyl alcohol, because it has a very distinct smell to it, and when I began to press against the ball really hard the ethyl alcohol started dripping out.


Compare your ball with there of the other members of the class. How many properties can you compare (e.g. diameter of the sphere versus height of the bounce)? List and compare.
We compared our ball to the ball of Ciara's group and we found out that there ball was a little bit bigger that ours, but ours was more rounded off so it bounced a lot higher than that of there group.   

  

Polymer Scavenger Hunt

Polymer Basics     Name ___________________________

Use the sites on the Matter & Atoms page of the Kid Zone at http://sciencespot.net/ to complete this worksheet.

Site #1: HandsOn Plastics
1. Plastics are polymers, which is something made of many units similar to a chain. Each
link in the chain is the “mer” or basic unit usually made out of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
and/or silicon.  To make the chain, many links or units are hooked or polymerized together.

2. Many common classes of polymers are composed of hydrocarbons, which contain the elements
carbon and hydrogen. List seven elements that are also found in polymers: oxygen, chlorine,
fluorine, nitrogen, silicon, phosphorous, and sulfer.

3. What is one of the most famous silicon-based polymers? Silly Putty

4.  What are the general attributes (properties) of polymers?
A. Polymers can be very resistant to chemicals.
B. Polymers can be both thermal and electrical insulators.
C. Polymers are very light in mass with varying degrees of strength.
D. Polymers can be processed in various ways to produce thin fibers or very intricate parts.

5. What percentage of our trash are plastics? 9.9%

6. What does WTE mean? Waste-to-energy What are two benefits of WTE? Plastics set off heat energy to burn wet trash and it can be converted to electrical energy
1 – We can use plastics that cannot be recycled.
2 – Incineration of polymers produces heat energy.

Site #2:  History of Plastics
Read the information on this page to help you complete this section. Fill in the blanks with the year it was first
produced and the last name(s) of the person credited with the discovery/development. Use the information to list the
substances with dates from the oldest to the most recent in the box.

Rayon – Developed in 1910 by Georges Audemars
Silly Putty - Developed in 1943 by James Wright
Cellophane - Discovered in 1908 by Jacques E Brandenburger
Parkesine - Discovered in 1862 by Alexander Parkes
Nylon - Developed in 1935 by Harris
Bakelite - Developed in 1907 by Leo Baekeland
Velcro - Developed in 1948 by George De Mestral
Saran - Discovered in 1933 by Ralph Wiley  
PVC (Vinyl) – Developed in 1926 by Walter Semon
Polyethylene – Developed in 1933 by Reginald Gibson & Eric Fawcett
Teflon – Discovered in 1938 by Roy Plunkett
Celluoid - Developed in 1868 by John Wesley Hyatt

Plastics Timeline
Oldest to Most Recent

1 Parkesine
2 Celluoid
3 Bakelite
4 Cellophane
5 Rayon
6 PVC
7 Saran
8 Polyethylene
9 Nylon
10 Teflon
11 Silly Putty
12 Velcro


Site #3:  Polymers – They’re Everywhere

1.  Click the “What are Polymers” link at the bottom of the screen and answer these questions.
A.  Polymers are tiny molecules strung in long repeating chain.
B. What are three polymers found in our bodies?  DNA, proteins, and starches

2. Click the link for “In Nature” and use your mouse to find eight polymers in the picture.  List them below.  
Amber   silk   turtle’s shell   cow’s milk   animal horns   lac   rosin

3. Click the link for “At Home” to learn about polymers that can be found around our homes.  Use your mouse to find
eight polymers and list them below.  
Bakelite   polyethylene  polystyrene  neoprene  acrylics  rubber  vinyl  vulcanized rubber  

4. Click the “Recycling” link and use your mouse to find eleven items made from recycled polymers in the park.  For
each item listed below, write down what it was used to make after being recycled.  The number of blanks indicates the
number of items for each polymer.
Peanut butter jar 􏰁 sweatshirt and tote bag
Foam cup􏰁 insulated jacket and concrete
Bread  bag 􏰁 trash can and landscape timber
Milk jug􏰁 dog house, picnic table, and plastic fence
Sandwich box 􏰁 playground equipment and flying frisbee



Site #4 – Polymer Flash Activities

1. Click the link to make a virtual polymer and choose polyethylene.
A. What type of monomer is used to make this polymer? Ethylene
B. What elements and how many of each is in one of these monomers?
 C = Carbon  # -2  H = Hydrogen # -4
C. What starts the process? Initiator

2. Click the link to try the matching games.  Record your times or scores in the blanks below.
A. Breakfast Game– 1st Try = 9497  2nd Try = 9298 3rd Try = 9401
B. Polymer Game - – 1st Try = 9427  2nd Try = 9545 3rd Try = 9353

Polymer Lab

Cross-linking Elmer's glue with sodium borate

The problem is, what is the change in physical properties of a polymer as the result of a cross-linking? How does adding more agents change it? and if we cross-link the Elmer's glue with the sodium borate, then it will change the state of matter and the more sodium borate that is added, the bigger the change.

The materials that will need to be used for this lab are: 500mL of water, 25mL of Elmer's glue, 1 tsp. of borax, 2 drops of food coloring, 1 graduated cylinder, 600mL beaker, 250mL beaker, and a stirring rod. 

The procedures are to add one tablespoon of borax and 100mL of water to the 600mL beaker, then stir. Squeeze 25mL of Elmer's glue and 5mL of water to the 250mL beaker then carefully stir the solution. Now mix the borax and the glue solution together. Now stir quickly while the solution takes place. And if there is excess liquid, pour it out, into the sink.

After the stirring was over, we removed the slime from the beaker and conducted a series of evens. The slime test results were that it was very slimy, smelled like glue, very squishy, in a way looked like egg whites. On a scale from 1-5 its sliminess was about 4. It was very lob-sided and highly bouncy. We did a quick and slow poling test of the slime and it just broke apart on each one when there was pressure applied. On the slow poke test it did not really penetrate through the slime. But on the quick poke test, my finger went completely through the slime and poked out the other side. 

In the end, my hypothesis was proven correct, because the state of matter was in fact change, because it went from a liquid substance, into almost a solid. And this occurred, because the two substances were cross-linked, and thus created the slime product. And a polymer was formed, due to that all of the sodium borate and glue's monomer all connected into a linked chain that created this in between substance thats almost a liquid and a solid at the same time.

1. How is slime visco-elastic?
It is visco-elastic, because the its definition is to be deformed when pressure is applied, and once it has been released, it returned back to it almost original shape.

2. What are the physical properties properties that change as a result of the addition of sodium borate to the Elmer's glue?
Well it changed pretty dramatically, because after stirring the glue and the water the glue seemed as if it wasn't sticking to anything, so it basically just a liquid. The sodium borate was mixed with water as well so it was to liquid coming together to make this polymer. Once the slime was created it was large in size and it was in a ball, so it turned into a polymer.


3. What would be the effect of adding more sodium borate to your cup? (your thoughts only)
I definitely believe that the slime would be bigger in size and it would be more slimy, because of the water and sodium borate that is in the mixture, so if there was to be more added, it would change.


4. After making the observation of the dried glue, how does the water affect the elasticity of the polymer? What is elasticity?
I think that water affects the elasticity, because when the water is added to the Elmer's glue, all of the monomers are in the and once it is added it pushes them together into a chain, creating a polymer. And elasticity is the ability to stretch something when force is applied, but when that force/pressure is released, it will return to its original state.

Chemthink; Chemical Reactions

In this section, we learned how chemical reactions take place. At the start, there is the original molecule/reactant that when acted upon, the outcome is a product of a new arrangement of the molecule. Always when a chemical reaction there is a bond being broken, being created, or both are taking place.
When there is a change in chemical structure, there is never a loss or gain of any atoms. So if there is H2+O2 you cannot make a single water molecule, due to the leftover atom. But if there were to be two more hydrogen atoms, there could be two water molecules. This is called the Law of Conservation of Mass. Also, in order to balance a chemical equation, you must change the coefficient in front of the number, so that is matches and a proper reactant/product is created.