Sodium Silicate

Results:
     Pouring the sodium silicate solution into the beaker containing the alcohol produced an immediate reaction. The polymer turned a creamy color and crumbled easily. It refused to stick together at first, but when we did get it to stick together, it looked like a snowball. The mixture was translucent a shiny.
     While forming the ball, the polymer felt sticky and slimy until we got the polymer dried a little bit. However, the first time we dried the polymer, it crumbled, so the second time we let it air dry.
     The rebound of the normal polymer was about 8cm. It also bounced around a lot. When we refrigerated the polymer, it became smaller and harder. This caused it to bounce higher.

Questions:
1. What characteristics are similar between your two types of polymers you have made? Differences?
The two polymers were similar because their solutions joined to create another object. The two polymers are different because the first polymer was more flexible and held shapes better. The second polymer was harder to shape and crumbled quite often.


2. Most commercial polymers are carbon based. What similar properties do carbon and silicon share that may contribute to their abilities to polymerize?
Carbon and silicon both make four chemical bonds which gives the capability to branch out in four directions. This is also how the two are able to make long chains.




3. Plastics are made of organic (carbon based) polymers. What similarities do the silicone polymer share with plastics?
They both use organic materials, however, while silicone is completely made form organic sources, plastic is only half organic. Monomer plastics are mostly made from organic substances, which make plastics and silicone even more similar. Both plastics and silicones are key ingredients to making polymers. Silicones can also make a type of plastic. It is said that silicone is able to replace plastic in toys, which would make them much safer.




4. How did you know that a chemical reaction had taken place when the two liquids were mixed?
We knew that a chemical reaction had taken place between the two liquids because they started to show a physical change.




5. How could you find out what liquid was pressed out of the mass of crumbled solid as you formed the ball?
We could have tested the DNA of the liquid to find out what it was.




6. Compare you ball with those of other members of the class. How many properties can you compare (e.g., diameter of sphere versus height of bounce)?
The group in front of us had made a much larger polymer. It was about a quarter in size, while ours was about a dime. Also, their polymer did not crumble. We think this could be because our group held it too much.


Conclusion
This experiment was much like the other one we did in the form of basic procedures and results. However, both of the polymers would yield different results when used for daily purposes. For example, the glue polymer is more flexible and would be able to withstand much more strain than the sodium silicate polymer. The sodium silicate polymer is much more logical to create however, because it is made from sustainable substances while glue can melt. It is rather interesting to see how substances of the same characteristics can have so many different properties that makes them fell different.