Silly_Putty_krizia

Silly Putty



Materials:  2 plastic cups   A stirring stick Measuring cups and spoons Some paper towel Elmer’s Glue  Borax Water Food coloring Hot water

Procedure :
 * 1) Heat half of cup of water.
 * 2) Pour 2 ta blespoon of glue and 2 tablespoon of water in a different cup. Add 2-3 drops of food coloring
 * 3) When the water is hot, pour 2 tablespoon of borax into the hot water. Stir until the borax is dissolved.
 * 4) Add 2 tablespoon of the solution from step 3 to the cup with water and glue mixture.
 * 5) Stir the mixture and play with it.



Explanation  Silly Putty acts as a thick liquid, but it can have the properties of elastic solid. It is a polymer which is made of single molecules called monomers. Monomer liquids flow easily and are gooey or sticky when touched. The monomers linked together to form long chains of polymers. The ingredient in Elmer's glue is called polyvinylacetate. The monomer molecule is called vinylacetate. The glue is already a polymer so when the borax solution is added, the chains linked together in a cross-link to make bigger polymers. If the monomer is A, then the polymer is then the polymer = A - A - A - A - A ... Because of the borate, the AAAAA chains are linked two or more times. 

Fact: <span style="color: #343232; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">James Wright, an engineer working for General Electric, was attempting to make a synthetic rubber since the Japanese blocked the US from importing rubber. He accidentally dropped boric acid into silicone oil and thought his experiment was a failure because it didn't have the properties of the syhnthetic rubber. A few years later, a salesman for the Dow Corning Corporation was using the putty to entertain some customers. One of his customers saw that it had a potential to be a toy. After being endorsed on the "Howdy Doody Show", silly putty became a popular toy.

Practical Applications <span style="color: #444141; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">
 * Polymers are use to make rubber, plastics, pipe restorations, DNA blueprints in our bodies, and protein and starches in the foods we eat.
 * Silly putty can be used as a stress reducer, dust remover, and many more.

http://www.chem.umn.edu/outreach/Sillyputty.html http://somethingnew-clint.blogspot.com/2009/08/viscoelastic-liquid-silly-putty.html http://www.sillyputty.com/default.htm