Plastics and Polymers Science Fair Projects : Using Hair ...

Madeline Goodstein

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Chemistr y! BEST

SCIENCE PROJECTS

Using Hair Gel, Soda Bottles, and

Slimy Stuff

Madeline Goodstein

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Valerie A. Wilcox, Executive Director of the National Plastics Center and Museum, for arranging a guided tour, and Anne-Marie Arnold, In-House Education Director, for giving the tour of the museum.

Copyright ? 2004 by Madeline Goodstein

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Goodstein, Madeline P. Plastics and polymers science fair projects using hair gel, soda bottles,

and slimy stuff / Madeline Goodstein. v. cm. -- (Chemistry! best science projects)

Includes index. Contents: What a polymer is -- Some properties of polymers -- Testing plastics. ISBN 0-7660-2123-8 (hardcover) 1. Polymers--Experiments--Juvenile literature. 2. Plastics--Experiments--Juvenile literature. [1. Polymers--Experiments. 2. Plastics--Experiments. 3. Experiments.] I. Title. II. Series. QD381.3.G66 2004 507'.8--dc22

2003012825

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Internet Addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Internet sites or on other Web sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to comments@ or to the address on the back cover.

Illustration Credits: Tom LaBaff

Cover Photo: ? Corel Corporation (background), ? Hemera Technologies, Inc., 1997?2000.

Plastics and Polymers Are All Around Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.1 Making a Polymer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 1.2 A Simple Model of a Polymer . . . . . . . . 20 1.3 Arrangement of Carbon Bonds

in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 1.4 Making Slime: Cross-Linking . . . . . . . . . 30 1.5 A Model Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Some Properties of Polymers . . . . . . . . . . 40

2.1 Polymers That Melt, Polymers That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.2 Making and Shaping Thermosetting Plastic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.3 Some Polymers Like Water. . . . . . . . . . . 49 2.4 Styrofoam: A Polymer That

Does Not Like Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 2.5 Fabrics That Like Water,

Fabrics That Don't. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 2.6 Permeability to Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Testing Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

3.1 Identification and Separation of Plastics for Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

3.2 Measuring the Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

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