Today we introduced polymers.
A polymer is any molecule that consists of several repeating units.
- polymers are long molecules of repeating units
- a polymer’s shape determines its properties
- polymers can be modified to change those properties
Polymers are everywhere, in nature and man made. Toys, plastic wrap, parts of cars, CD players, video cases, even wood, foods, clothing, and our bodies are made of polymers.
Polymer properties can be modified with chemicals or heat.
Theresa posted an excellent link that really helped explain polymers in detail. Here it is.
In today’s experiment we were observing the change in properties when two polymers were added together.
We used 4 ounces of liquid starch and 4 ounces of blue gel glue.
Since glue is so hard to measure, we took a glass and added 4 ounces of water and then put a mark on the outside of the glass at the 4 ounce spot. Then we added another 4 ounces of water and made another mark. Then we poured out the water and dried the glass. Now it was ready for the experiment.
First GB poured the glue into the glass until he got to the mark.
Then he added the liquid starch to the second mark.
Then we stirred, and stirred, and stirred. It was kind of mixing, but not well enough to really see what was happening. So I dumped it all into a small mixing bowl and we started using our hands. After a while we got Gak! It was pretty cool. Did you ever play with this stuff? Anyway, here is a video of us playing with it.
