Intro: In this project my group and I, Betty Nayeli, and Maia attempted to make polymer bouncy balls. Made out of house hold items like, school glue, borax, water, and cornstarch. We also would research what makes a bouncy ball bounce and how the differs solutions form the rubber balls. Here is the proposal for our project:
Looking Back: The results of our experiment did not turn out the way we had hoped. We followed the instructions as carefully as we could that was pretty easy because it was a fairly simple process. But in the end our bouncy balls turned out crumbly and dry and didn't bounce. We had two solutions the borax solution and the ball solution. The borax solution was just warm water and borax so that the borax could dissolve. The ball solution was the glue and cornstarch we slowly added the borax solution to the ball solution then mixed it and formed it into a ball. We felt that the ball was not forming correctly so decide to make a second draft to see if it would work any better. It actually did they felt a better texture we thought that they would from better over night. But mine dried up lost its spherical shape. I'm not sure where we went wrong but I think it had something to do with the way we mixed it because we let allot of air bubbles into the mixture which maybe made it more fragile. I will have pictures of our products bellow. Here is the website that we used to base our lab off of. (I do not recommend it)
http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball_2.htm#step-heading\
Looking Beyond (on a molecular level): The thing that makes bouncy balls bounce is that the polymer in the ball is so condensed. Bouncy balls can be made out of many different types of synthetic polymer like the school glue that we used that contains polymers. These polymers also are called polyvinyl acetate. When mixed with a borax solution a chemical reaction occurs which makes the polymer molecules link up with each other, changing the liquid solution into a soft pliable solid. The cornstarch helps bind the molecules together so that they could hold there shape together. Different proportions of from the ingredients bring different properties to the bouncy ball. For example more cornstarch will make your ball stretch and bend more like silly putty. Diluting the glue with water will make the ball more slimy and sticky. Less borax will make a gooey ball and more borax would make a condensed smooth ball. But with the exact amounts and in the right order your ball will be the perfect polymer to bounce. So maybe that is why ours did not work is because our proportions were wrong and the incorrect reaction took place with the borax.The actual force that makes a bouncy ball bounce is kinetic energy and elasticity. Elasticity allows the ball to return to its original shape after being compressed or stretched, such as hitting the floor. So instead of splattering everywhere, the ball bounces back up. The borax is needed to help the glue and the starch stick together. This connects the two polymers into a net like formation, keeping the ball in it's shape. The extra borax might be why Betty's ball did not crumble when it hit the ground like mine did.
Simplified Take Aways:
Looking Inward: We did not get desirable results. After researching I think the reason for this is that the polymer was not solidified and condensed together as much as it needed to be to bounce. It did make a rubbery texture but it was too dry and kept on breaking apart almost like when we made oobleck. After seeing that our first attempt of making the bouncy balls did not work we decided to try it again to see if we got a measurement off and did not notice. We found that the product did not change much from the last one. The only one that really bounced was Betty's. I think hers bounced bounced well because she accidentally added too much borax and she spent a lot of time molding it. Maybe we did not let the borax solution react with the ball solution instead we mixed it right away. But I think that I learned more from our experiment not working out then if it did work because other wise I wouldn't have researched it as much. I think I preformed well for the most part in this activity I brought in all my supplies and tried to do the experiment as we had written on the proposal sheet. I did not give up when my first try did not work out. The thing that I could improve on would be to make sure to do more research before the lab so that I know for sure that our instructions are correct so that the product will be straight forward and there won't be so much guessing.
Looking Outward: Working with Betty, Maia and Nayeli was a solid group. We all brought in supplies and were willing to help each other out during the lab. The only thing is I wish we had worked on our proposal as a group so we could communicate better during the lab better. But I think I would like to work with them again.
Looking Forward: If I was to do this project again I would use different instructions. I would let the borax completely dissolve and let it sit in the ball solution for a longer amount of time. My group would be the same expect maybe I would try to find someone who has made bouncy balls successfully before so I could ask them for advice. I could do this lab again so that I could get better results. But I wouldn't see that much of a point to continuing this project because it is a simple lab that I couldn't get much more out of.
Looking Back: The results of our experiment did not turn out the way we had hoped. We followed the instructions as carefully as we could that was pretty easy because it was a fairly simple process. But in the end our bouncy balls turned out crumbly and dry and didn't bounce. We had two solutions the borax solution and the ball solution. The borax solution was just warm water and borax so that the borax could dissolve. The ball solution was the glue and cornstarch we slowly added the borax solution to the ball solution then mixed it and formed it into a ball. We felt that the ball was not forming correctly so decide to make a second draft to see if it would work any better. It actually did they felt a better texture we thought that they would from better over night. But mine dried up lost its spherical shape. I'm not sure where we went wrong but I think it had something to do with the way we mixed it because we let allot of air bubbles into the mixture which maybe made it more fragile. I will have pictures of our products bellow. Here is the website that we used to base our lab off of. (I do not recommend it)
http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball_2.htm#step-heading\
Looking Beyond (on a molecular level): The thing that makes bouncy balls bounce is that the polymer in the ball is so condensed. Bouncy balls can be made out of many different types of synthetic polymer like the school glue that we used that contains polymers. These polymers also are called polyvinyl acetate. When mixed with a borax solution a chemical reaction occurs which makes the polymer molecules link up with each other, changing the liquid solution into a soft pliable solid. The cornstarch helps bind the molecules together so that they could hold there shape together. Different proportions of from the ingredients bring different properties to the bouncy ball. For example more cornstarch will make your ball stretch and bend more like silly putty. Diluting the glue with water will make the ball more slimy and sticky. Less borax will make a gooey ball and more borax would make a condensed smooth ball. But with the exact amounts and in the right order your ball will be the perfect polymer to bounce. So maybe that is why ours did not work is because our proportions were wrong and the incorrect reaction took place with the borax.The actual force that makes a bouncy ball bounce is kinetic energy and elasticity. Elasticity allows the ball to return to its original shape after being compressed or stretched, such as hitting the floor. So instead of splattering everywhere, the ball bounces back up. The borax is needed to help the glue and the starch stick together. This connects the two polymers into a net like formation, keeping the ball in it's shape. The extra borax might be why Betty's ball did not crumble when it hit the ground like mine did.
Simplified Take Aways:
- What do chemical reactions mean
- The structure of corn starch
- What polymer is and what it is used for
- Proportions
- Elasticity
- Solutions
Looking Inward: We did not get desirable results. After researching I think the reason for this is that the polymer was not solidified and condensed together as much as it needed to be to bounce. It did make a rubbery texture but it was too dry and kept on breaking apart almost like when we made oobleck. After seeing that our first attempt of making the bouncy balls did not work we decided to try it again to see if we got a measurement off and did not notice. We found that the product did not change much from the last one. The only one that really bounced was Betty's. I think hers bounced bounced well because she accidentally added too much borax and she spent a lot of time molding it. Maybe we did not let the borax solution react with the ball solution instead we mixed it right away. But I think that I learned more from our experiment not working out then if it did work because other wise I wouldn't have researched it as much. I think I preformed well for the most part in this activity I brought in all my supplies and tried to do the experiment as we had written on the proposal sheet. I did not give up when my first try did not work out. The thing that I could improve on would be to make sure to do more research before the lab so that I know for sure that our instructions are correct so that the product will be straight forward and there won't be so much guessing.
Looking Outward: Working with Betty, Maia and Nayeli was a solid group. We all brought in supplies and were willing to help each other out during the lab. The only thing is I wish we had worked on our proposal as a group so we could communicate better during the lab better. But I think I would like to work with them again.
Looking Forward: If I was to do this project again I would use different instructions. I would let the borax completely dissolve and let it sit in the ball solution for a longer amount of time. My group would be the same expect maybe I would try to find someone who has made bouncy balls successfully before so I could ask them for advice. I could do this lab again so that I could get better results. But I wouldn't see that much of a point to continuing this project because it is a simple lab that I couldn't get much more out of.