Experimenting With Polymers

By: Ishrath and Catie

For KIC, we did research on polymers to find out what would happen if we took out one ingredient.

The question we were trying to answer was, “What will happen if we take 1 ingredient from the recipe for a polymer?”

We learned about polymers by going on the internet and looking for information about polymers. We also went on the KIC website and read an article by a girl named Meg. She also did her experiment on polymers. A polymer is a long simple chain of molecules that repeats itself. We also learned that a polymer will automatically rebond when you take it apart.

These are the steps we took in doing this experiment. First, we found out what a polymer is. Then, we started making polymers. First we got the ingredients. You need borax, glue, warm water, and food coloring. Second, we dissolved the borax in the warm water. Third, we added the glue and food coloring into another bowl. Fourth, we added the borax and warm water solution to the bowl with the glue and the food coloring. Fifth, we mixed all the ingredients together. Then we let the mixture sit for a few minutes. This is what we did to make a polymer.

Recipe for Silly Putty
Materials:
2 mixing bowls
measuring cup

Ingredients:
¼ cup warm water
½ cup glue
1 tbsp. borax
food coloring (optional)

We discovered that if you take the warm water out of the mixture, it will still be similar to “Silly Putty”. The silly putty without water was more bouncy and less stretchy. We also discovered that you would have a big mess if you didn’t add the borax.

Next year, a student might try using different recipes and taking out one ingredient. They may also want to try substituting ingredients in the recipe. Another question they can try to answer is, “What ingredients make the stretchiest polymer?” We wanted to try taking other recipes and making them without one ingredient. Those are some things that a student next year might want to try.