Polymer Lab Group Investigation

The lab that my group and I decided to investigate was the like the glue, water, and borax lab, but we changed the amounts of glue, water, and borax, keeping it proportionate to the one that we made in the other lab. Our medium glue ball polymer contained 40 mL of white glue, 525 mL of water, and 2 tsp of borax. Our small glue ball polymer contained exactly half of the medium polymer, 20 mL of white glue, 1 tsp of borax, and 212.5 mL of water. The large polymer ball was double of the medium glue ball polymer, 70 mL of white glue, 1050 mL of water, and 4 teaspoons of borax. That was the first thing that we changed, but we also added another variable, we made 3 more small glue polymers and molded them into 3 different shapes, a cube, football, and a pyramid. With both of these experiments we were testing how high they could bounce when dropped from 30 cm. My hypothesis for the first experiment was that the small glue ball will bounce the highest because it has the least mass, which makes it bounce high. My hypothesis for the second experiment was that the football shaped polymer glue ball will bounce the highest because of the shape because actual footballs do bounce, and the football is in the same family as the ball. Neither one of my hypothesises were correct. In the first experiment the large ball bounced the highest, but the medium glue ball had the highest average. In the second experiment the cube had the highest bounce and the highest average. I think that reason our hypothesises didn’t work is because we did not really think scientifically about what we writing about. Somethings that I observed is that when there is air pocket in the ball when it is being formed it’s not going to form that well until its popped. Also, another thing that I noticed is that the glue balls were really sticky and lumpy and they had to dipped in the water and borax solution.

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.

Greatest Chemistry Discoveries

1. Oxygen (1770s)
Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen; later, Antoine Lavoisier clarifies the nature of elements. Priestley produces oxygen in experiments and describes its role in combustion and respiration. Then, by dissolving fixed air in water, he invents carbonated water. Priestley, oblivious to the importance of his discovery, calls the new gas "dephlogisticated air." Lavoisier gives oxygen its name and correctly describes its role in combustion. Lavoisier then works with others to devise a chemical nomenclature, which serves as the basis of the modern system.
2. Atomic Theory (1808)
John Dalton provides a way of linking invisible atoms to measurable quantities like the volume of a gas or mass of a mineral. His atomic theory states that elements consist of tiny particles called atoms. Thus, a pure element consists of identical atoms, all with the same mass, and compounds consist of atoms of different elements combined together.
3. Atoms Combine Into Molecules (1811 onward)
Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro finds that the atoms in elements combine to form molecules. Avogadro proposes that equal volumes of gases under equal conditions of temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules.
4. Synthesis of Urea (1828)
Friedrich Woehler accidentally synthesizes urea from inorganic materials, proving that substances made by living things can be reproduced with nonliving substances. Until 1828, it was believed that organic substances could only form with the help of the "vital force" present in animals and plants.
5. Chemical Structure (1850s)
Friedrich Kekule figures out the chemical structure of benzene, bringing the study of molecular structure to the forefront of chemistry. He writes that after years of studying the nature of carbon-carbon bonds, he came up with the ring shape of the benzene molecule after dreaming of a snake seizing its own tail. The unusual structure solves the problem of how carbon atoms can bond with up to four other atoms at the same time.
6. Periodic Table of the Elements (1860s – 1870s)
Dmitry Mendeleyev realizes that if all of the 64 known elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic weight, their properties are repeated according to certain periodic cycles. He formulates the periodic table of the elements and predicts the existence of elements that have not yet been discovered. Three of those elements are found during his lifetime: gallium, scandium and germanium.
7. Electricity Transforms Chemicals (1807 – 1810)
Humphry Davy finds that electricity transforms chemicals. He uses an electric pile (an early battery) to separate salts by a process now known as electrolysis. With many batteries he is able to separate elemental potassium and sodium in calcium, strontium, barium and magnesium.
8. The Electron (1897)
J.J. Thomson discovers that the negatively charged particles emitted by cathode ray tubes are smaller than atoms and part of all atoms. He calls these particles, now known as electrons, "corpuscles."
9. Electrons for Chemical Bonds (1913 onward)
Niels Bohr publishes his model of atomic structure in which electrons travel in specific orbits around the nucleus, and the chemical properties of an element are largely determined by the number of electrons in its atoms' outer orbits. This paves the way to an understanding of how electrons are involved in chemical bonding.
10. Atoms Have Signatures of Light (1850s)
Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen find that each element absorbs or emits light at specific wavelengths, producing specific spectra.
11. Radioactivity (1890s – 1900s)
Marie and Pierre Curie discover and isolate radioactive materials. After chemically extracting uranium from uranium ore, Marie notes the residual material is more "active" than the pure uranium. She concludes that the ore contains, in addition to uranium, new elements that are also radioactive. This leads to the discovery of the elements polonium and radium.
12. Plastics (1869 and 1900s)
John Wesley Hyatt formulates celluloid plastic for use as a substitute for ivory in the manufacture of billiard balls. Celluloid is the first important synthetic plastic and is used as a substitute for expensive substances such as ivory, amber, horn and tortoiseshell. Later, Leo Baekeland invents hardened plastics, specifically Bakelite, a synthetic substitute for the shellac used in electronic insulation.
13. Fullerenes (1985)
Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Rick Smalley discover an entirely new class of carbon compound with a cage-like structure. This leads to the discovery of similar tube-like carbon structures. Collectively, the compounds come to be called buckminsterfullerenes, or fullerenes. The molecules are composed entirely of carbon and take the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, tube or ring. Named for Richard Buckminster Fuller, the architect who created the geodesic dome, they are sometimes called "buckyballs" or "buckytubes."

The Science of Addiction

Natural Reward Pathways in the Brain

Neurons are cells that send messages through the brain using chemical and electrical signals. Neurons can be many different sizes and shapes, and they all have different jobs, like some control sleeping and other control the muscles in the body. The brain is divided into several different regions that are each responsible for for preforming different functions, like sight, hearing, memory, and motor skills, just to name a few. The center of our brain controls the reward pathway, which is responsible for diving our feeling of motivation, reward, and behavior. The job of the reward pathway is to reward us when we are preforming activities that are essential for our survival, these activities are eating, drinking, and sex. The reward pathway also connects to other important parts of the brain. These connections allow the reward pathway in the brain to know what is going on in other parts of the brain and what is happening outside of the brain. The reward pathway works by allowing the other parts of the brain to collect information for it. Your 5 senses gather information from your surroundings and then the signals that are collected are sent to the brain letting you know what is around you. For example when you haven't eaten anything all day and someone gives you a big yummy looking sandwich your 5 senses gather information about the sandwich and then they send signals to the brain letting it know that there is a sandwich right in front of you. When the sandwich has been eaten neurons in the reward pathway are released, these neurons are called dopamine, and dopamine gives you a little jolt of pleasure and that's your reward for eating the sandwich. The reward pathway is also responsible for making sure that the same activity is repeated.

Drugs After the Reward Pathway

Alcohol: Alcohol is drugs taken by drinking, and it includes beer, wine, liquor, vodka, whiskey, rum, and gin. Ethyl alcohol is found in most drinks and its a depressant, which is a drug that causes a temporary claming or drowsy effect. Alcohol is legal drink if you are over 21, but drinking alcohol gives someone a very high chance to get addicted to it or alcohol abuse. Alcohol causes loss of motor coordination, impaired speech, reasoning, balance, judgment, and time reaction. A large consumption of alcohol can cause vomiting, lack of control, lack of consciousness, and even possible death if the blood alcohol is to high.

Anabolic Steroids: Anabolic steroids are taken by the mouth or they are injected. Anabolic steroids include steroids, roids, Aronld's, gum candy, juice, pumpers, and stackers. Anabolic steroids are synthetic substances that similar to male sex hormones. They are sometimes prescribed to patients to treat medical problems that cause hormone levels to lower, it is also used when people have injuries like taring their ACL (a ligament in the knee) to reduce swelling or pain, or to promote muscle growth before or after a surgery is done. Steroids are used to produce muscles, so athletes are usually the ones that abuse this drug. Anabolic steroids have a down side, actually a couple, they can give the person that took them a higher chance of a heart attack, strokes, and other life problems, it can also cause unwanted changes to appearance like hair loss and acne.

Cocaine: Cocaine is taken by snorting it through the nose and nasal airways, and it is also known as coke, C, snow, flake, blow, and crack. Cocaine is harvested from the coca plant, and it is a stimulant which causes increased activity in the brain and in the nervous system. Cocaine causes extreme increases of energy, decreased appetite, and mental alertness in the user. Cocaine is very dangerous even when the user stops taking it, while the user is taking it they are at a high risk of having heart attacks, strokes, respiratory system failure, seizures, and disturbances in heart rhythm.

Dissociative Drugs: These drugs are taken by smoking, by the mouth, or snorting it, dissociative drugs include ketamine (special K, vitamin K, K), PCP (phencyclidine, angel dust, wack, wet, embalming fluid), and dextromethorphan (DXM, robo). PCP is ofter applied in either liquid or powder form to marijuana and tobacco cigarettes, and then smokes. Users feel out of control and disconnected from reality, they ofter display violent and unpredictable behavior. High doses can result in convulsions, comas, high fevers, or even death. Ketamine is similar to PCP, but it is less potent. While on the drug some users have claimed that they have had a terrifying feeling, much like a near-death experience. Much of the ketamine sold on the streets has been stole from vet offices where it has been used as an anesthetic. Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant and it is found in some nonprescription cold and cough medications. Taken at the recommended does, it is safe, but taking a higher dose can produce the safe effects that PCP and ketamine have.

GHB and Rohypnol: GHG and Rohypnol are both taken by the mouth and GHG includes G, liquid ecstasty, Georgia home boy, soap, vita-G, Rohypnol includes roofies, rophine, roche, and forget me. GHB is a depressand that is abused both by party-goers for its relaxing effects and by bodybuilders for its ability to promote muscle growth. At high doses of when combined with other drugs GHB can lead to seizures, loss of consciousness, coma, or death. Rohypnol is a benzodiazepine, a class of drug that is prescribed to treat anxiety disorders. However, rohypnol is not approved for prescription use in the U.S and only sold illegally in this country. Both of these drugs are colorless, tasteless, and odorless, so they can easily be slipped into someones drink. These two drugs are often known as the "date-rape" drug because the users are physically unable to resist assault and they might not have a recollection of what happened to them earlier.

Heroin: Heroin is known as smack, H, skag, junk, and black tar, it is taken by injecting, snorting or smoking. Heroin is the most widely abused opiate, which is a class of drug which comes from the poppy plant. Although some opiates are prescribed to treat pain, heroin has no medical use. Heroin causes a "rush" of pleasure in the user that is usually followed by several hours of drowsiness. It may also cause nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. Heroin is very addictive, and withdrawal from heroin causes restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, and cold flashes.

After entering the body, drugs can causes severe changes to the synapses in the brain. Drugs of abuse affect the brain in such a dramatic way that the brain must try to adapt. One way the brain compensates is to reduce the number of dopamine receptors at the synapse. As a result, after the user has "come down", they will need more of the drug next time they want to get high. This response is commonly referred to as "tolerance." The faster the drug gets to the brain the more addictive the drug is. Drugs can also kill a person, if very high doses are taken it can cause brain damage, heart attacks, and over heating. Withdrawal from the drug can be even worse, trying to stop taking the drug can cause heart attacks, brain damage, and over heating as well as cold flashes, vomiting, and insomnia.