The problem of the lab was what was we did not know what a sodium silicate was. The hypothesis we made was for the problem, the end result, and why this reaction would happen. My hypothesis for what the outcome of the second polymer lab was and what a sodium silicone polymer was is that when the sodium silicate and the ethyl alcohol get mixed together they will become a gel-like solid because the alcohol will make the sodium silicone a solid therefore a polymer. This hypothesis was absolutely correct!! It was correct because the outcome was that the sodium silicon turned and the ethyl alcohol did turn into a solid therefore a polymer.
When we were forming the sodium silicate polymer we had some difficulty because when we pushed one piece into the ball all of it just crumbled into our hands. We tried putting cold water on it but that absolutely did not help and had just made it really sticky and gooey. When we tried the WARM water it made it form together. The reason I think that it had made such a U-turn and had helped us form the ball was because it made it warmer and pliable. When I first thought about I hadn't figured out a reason why, but now I just relate it to how glass works. When you would make glass cold it is just more susceptible to breaking just like the sodium silicate polymer. When you would make glass warm, like at boiling heat, it loses its' former shape and can be shaped into a new figure.
There were two tests conducted with the second polymer. It was the same test with the first polymer, the test of rebound capabilities. A normal ball of the sodium silicate polymer at room temperature bounced 23cm and the other polymer had bounced 10cm, then the second test for the cooled temperature ones the results for the sodium silicate polymer had bounced 20cm and the other polymer bounced 15cm. The differences of these tests were that between each individual polymer the results were not the same, so either way there was an effect of the refrigerator. Also, for the sodium silicate polymer I think the results went lower when it when into the fridge because after it came out of he fridge it felt heavier and since we were only dropping the ball and not pushing it down the denseness did not help with trying to bonce it higher it just hindered that goal that we thought would happen.
There were many questions that guided my thinking. For example, what characteristics that are similar between the two types of polymers that I have made? Differences? The characteristics that are similar between the two types of polymers was that the shape of the first polymer was like a ball when I formed it and that was the same for the second polymer because I could form it into a ball. Another similarity was that I could shape the polymers into whatever I wanted to for each one. Also the color was almost a similarity because they were both a hue of white. The differences of the two polymers were that the texture of the first polymer was like silly putty because you could punch it and you would just feel the squishy part of the polymer. If you would punch the second polymer that was 5 times the size of the first one you would break your that is how hard and different the texture was. Another difference was that the flexibility in the two polymers. The first polymer you could do all kind of shapes and stuff with it, but for the second polymer if you made it flat it would fall apart.
Most commercial polymers are carbon based. What similar properties do carbon and silicon share that may contribute to their abilities to polymerize?The similar properties are simply that they have they same number of electrons. There was a very interesting reaction that took place for making each of the polymers. The reason that the outcome of the lab occurred the way it had was because of this background information that proves the similar properties that carbon and silicon have that made this reaction possible. Silicone is a very interesting type of atom. Like carbon, silicon makes 4 chemical bonds and can branch out in 4 directions to make long chains. In sodium silicate, the silicon atom is bonded to four oxygen atoms and is not linked in any chains. The ethyl alcohol has just two carbon atoms. When sodium silicate and ethyl alcohol are put together, the silicate particles begin to line up with each other to form long chains as the ethyl groups (sometimes shown as “R”) replace oxygen atoms in the silicate ion. Some become cross linked between chains. Water molecules are byproducts of the formation of the polymerization bond.
How did you know that a chemical reaction had taken place when the two liquids were mixed? When we started mixing the liquids it just looked like it was just going to make a gooey clear glue mixture, but as we kept mixing it started to harden then crumble. So you could see the chemical reaction happen.
How could you find out what liquid was pressed out of the mass of crumbled solid as you formed the ball? The liquid that was coming out seemed like it was the ethyl alcohol because I feel like there was enough to make the chemical reaction happen and then the mixture no longer needed anymore. Also I could sort of feel it because when we mushed the ball together my hands smelt mostly of the ethyl alcohol and it turned white from the sodium silicate, but it stuck because of the alcohol.
Compare your ball with those of the other members of the class? How many properties can you compare (e.g., diameter of sphere versus height of bounce)? List and compare them. There was only one group that I had actually seen and compared with and that was Liora and Zach's group and we could compare the diameter (it was way bigger, it was like twice the size of our ball, probably because our ball took more time to shape and we probably lost crumbles here and there from everybody trying to help us form the ball) , the shape (our tools (hands) are different sizes), the bouncing (there ball was bigger and denser that does not help when you are just dropping the ball and not pushing it down) difference, the color ( the measurements can always change the color), and the basic texture (same as the shape.)
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