fairfolio
Saved Projects

How Can Different Polymers Be Identified?

CSEF · 2009 Environmental Engineering (Junior Division Only)

Chase C. May · Murray Middle School, Ridgecrest, Kern County

Overview

Objectives/Goals How can different types of polymers be identified without looking at the Plastic Identification Code? The purpose of this science experiment is to identify different polymers (plastics) based on physical and chemical properties so that they can be sorted for recycling before being sent to a recycling center to make recycling easier. Methods/Materials In this experiment I will identify the different physical and chemical characteristics of each type of plastic sample: - Color; - Clarity; - If the plastic is Soft and Pliable or Hard and Rigid; - Flame color when the plastic is burned; - Smoke color when the plastic is burned. I will also determine the density of the plastic samples by comparing them to known densities of liquid solutions. If the sample floats in a liquid solution, the sample is less dense than the liquid solution. If the sample sinks in a liquid solution, the sample is more dense than the liquid solution. Results Plastic type characteristics observations: Each plastic sample has unique physical characteristics, such as color, texture, and clarity. Each plastic sample has unique chemical characteristics when burned, except for sample 2 & 5, which has the same flame color and smoke color. Density Test Results: Plastic type 1 & 4 had the exact same density test results Plastic type 2 had unique density test results Plastic type 3 had unique density test results Plastic type 5 & 6 had the exact same test results Conclusions/Discussion Plastic types 2 & 3 can be uniquely identified by using just the density test. None of the other 4 plastic types acts the same as plastic type 2 and 3 which Plastic types 1 & 4 can be identified by using the density test results and their unique physical characteristics. I compared the plastic color and flame color of each sample. Plastic type 1 is white, and plastic type 4 is green. Plastic type 11 had an orange flame and sample 4 had a very dark orange flame. Plastic types 5 & 6 can be identified by using the density test and comparing the plastic color of each. Plastic type 5 is off-white and plastic type 6 is black. Also, plastic type 5 had an orange flame and plastic type 6 had a red and dark orange flame.

Summary statement

The purpose of this science experiment is to identify different polymers (plastics) based on physical and chemical properties so that they can be sorted for recycling before being sent to a recycling center to make recycling easier.

Help received

My mother helped me conduct the experiment.. My father helped me type the report and the display boards.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2009 Environmental Engineering (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1121

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google