Sodium SIlicate Polymer Lab Investigation

I was not expecting the outcome of the lab we had today. Before I saw the materials I thought that we were just going to be doing the same thing as yesterday, but add another variable, like heating the polymer. My hypothesis for this lab was when the sodium silicate and the ethanol alcohol get mixed together they will become a gel-like solid because the alcohol will make the sodium silicone a solid therefore a polymer. My hypothesis was partially right mixing the sodium silicate and the ethyl alcohol did make a solid, but it wasn't a jell like substance, it was more solid. Comparing to the lab we did earlier in the week the polymer that resulted from this lab was clearer, smaller, and it was very lumpy, but when we made it into a sphere like object it turned out to be smooth. The Polymer lab that was done earlier in the week had a different outcome, the resulting polymer was white, silly-putty like, and very flexible unlike the Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab. Another difference is that the polymer between the Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab and the Polymer Lab was that the resulting polymer from the Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab bounced up higher in the rebound test.

Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab

• Room Temperature: 23 cm
• Cold Temperature: 20 cm

Polymer Lab

• Room Temperature: 10 cm
• Cold Temperature: 15 cm

Also the polymer that was produced in the Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab was much harder to shape because it kept crumbling and breaking apart.

Some similarities between carbon and silicone that contribute to their abilities to polymerize are they have the same number of electrons and it would be very unlikely for a non-carbon based life form to exist because of carbon's incredible ability to bond. But silicon also shares this same property. Why is organic material so much more common, and why is silicon-based life unlikely? Shouldn't both these elements be just as good at forming bonds in nature? Water which was used in both labs is made up of chemical bonds called compounds because it has 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen, therefore water is a byproduct of the polymerization bond. This is important because it is a simple example of the polymerization bond and compounds. This lab was very interesting because it showed me different types of bonds and something that I found very fascinating was that a liquid and a more viscus liquid could make a solid. Another thing that I learned from this lab is that silicone might be able to replace plastic because it almost has the same chemical structure and it could potentially have the same uses.