Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab Investigation

     In this experiment, we were making another polymer ball composed of ethyl alcohol and sodium silicate solution. We also had preciously created a ball made of glue and a borax solution made of 2 teaspoons of borax and water. It created a chemical reaction and created a solid out of the glue. There also were some similarities between the two balls though. They were both made from polymers. They also but were caused from a chemical reaction that occurred between a liquid and a thicker liquid. Some differences between the balls were that the ball made from the alcohol and the sodium silicate solution was more crystallized than the other glue ball because we had to form the crystallized ball rather than the glue ball which was more like a solid to start. In the experiment that we did today, our group had created the biggest ball in the class. I do not know if was our measurements, or if it was that our ball just created easier, or if it was the way that we were rolling our ball. I do not know, but if it was any of those then it is possible that anybody could have possibly made one just as big as ours. You could tell that there was a chemical reaction occurring because when you started to stir, crystals started to form at the bottom of the beaker, and it was getting harder to stir. It was getting harder to stir because it was forming into a solid. It was the same with the first experiment. Once you added the solution into the glue and stirred, the glue started to become a solid and it got harder and harder to stir. When you were trying to roll the ball, there was a liquid that kept coming out of the ball. You could tell that the liquid was the alcohol because of the smell. Once you lost that liquid from rolling the ball, it would crumble. That is the reason that you needed to put it under the water, so there was enough moisture in the ball to keep its shape.
     Since we had created to ball with each of the polymers, we had a rebound test and compared the two tests. The first ball that we made, the one made of glue, bounced about 16-17 cm. The other one, the one made of sodium solution and alcohol, bounced about 15-16 cm. I think that the rebound of the second ball rebounded lower than the first ball because the second ball was a little more densely packed and not as flexible. The glue ball on the other hand was flexible and more bouncy therefore it went higher than the crystallized ball.