In lab, you will experiment with three solutions ‒ DI water, ethanol, and 4M CaCl2 ‒...

In lab, you will experiment with three solutions ‒ DI water, ethanol, and 4M CaCl2 ‒ to develop a method to separate 6 types of plastic. What ideas do you have about possible methods to separate the plastics using these solutions? How could you change the densities of the solutions that are provided? How could you group the types of plastics to work out a separation method? (The intent of this question is for you to generate ideas, and as such, there are no right or wrong answers.)

6 types of plastics: HDPE, LDPE, PET, PP, PS, PVC

Solutions

Expert Solution

A plastic is a polymer, a chemical compound that is made up of repeating units of molecules called monomers. Generally, carbon will be bonded to hydrogens, In some cases, other elements such as chlorine or fluorine or nitrogen can be bonded to carbon as well. The presence of different elements in the monomers contribute to the different properties of the different types of plastics.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Carbonate beverage bottles-are made from this type of plastic. Meat wrappers, filling for pillows, and cosmetic wrappings are other examples.
High-density polyethylene (HDPE). Plastic bottle is mainly made up of this polymer. This include plastic bottles containing milk, detergents, shampoo, bottled water, juices.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Electrical conduit, plumbing pipes, blister packs, and roof sheeting can be stored in PVC bottles.
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE). This include filmy-type bags such as garbage and bread bags, squeeze bottles, garbage cans, and irrigation tubing.
Polypropylene (PP). This include microwave containers, drinking straws, potato chip bags, yogurt containers, plastic buckets.
Polystyrene (PS). This kind of plastic include salad bar take-out containers, plastic cutlery, clear plastic cups, and plastic sleeves for cookies or crackers.

Density is used to separate out the plastics. Devise a method to determine the approximate density of the plastics along with three solutions DI water, ethanol and 4M CaCl₂. Plastics having a density greater than the solution will sink. Plastics having a density lesser than the solution will float or are being held on the very top of the solution by surface tension. The piece of plastic is pushed below the surface of the solution before making density observations.

Plastic	Alcohol Solution	DI water	4M CaCl₂	Literature value for plastic density grams/cm3
PET	sink	sink	float	1.31
HDPE	sink	float	float	0.96
PVC	sink	sink	sink	1.4
LDPE	sink	float	float	0.88
PP	float	float	float	0.86
PS	sink	sink	float	1.05

queen_honey_blossom answered 1 year ago

Next > < Previous

Related Solutions

. Suppose that you are preparing CaCl2 solutions. a. What mass of CaCl2(s) would you need...

. Suppose that you are preparing CaCl2 solutions. a. What mass of CaCl2(s) would you need to add to make 100.0 mL of a 0.020 M solution? b. If you actually added 0.228 g of CaCl2(s), what would the solution concentration be? c. You dilute this solution 5-fold, adding 10.00 mL into a 50.00 mL volumetric flask. What is the resultant concentration?

A water sample is prepared by adding 10-4M NaCl, 10-3 M NaHCO3 and 10-4 M CaCl2...

A water sample is prepared by adding 10-4M NaCl, 10-3 M NaHCO3 and 10-4 M CaCl2 to water. Assume that when these salts dissolve, they dissociate to Na+, Cl- , Ca2+, and HCO3 - and then do not react further. a. Compute the ionic strength of the solution. b. What is the activity of each dissolved ion if the infinitely solution approximation applies and the infinite dilution scale is used? What is the activity of each ion if the extended...

You’re doing an experiment in a physics lab using ice and water. Do you have 1.5...

You’re doing an experiment in a physics lab using ice and water. Do you have 1.5 kg water with temperature 28°C. You added 0.6 kg ice with initial temperature -22°C. Assuming you have an isolated system, i) write down the thermal equilibrium equations with amount of heat loss and gain in the system ii) do all the icemelt justify your answer with calculations iii) what is the final temperature of the water in the container and why? iv) if some...

2. You are given three solutions to test in the lab: 1.0 M glucose, 1.0 M...

2. You are given three solutions to test in the lab: 1.0 M glucose, 1.0 M potassium nitrate, and 1.0 M potassium phosphate. Place the solutions in order from lowest to highest a. boiling point b. vapor pressure c. freezing point

In our lab experiment, we filtered CaCl and CaOH2 solutions that we prepared the previous week...

In our lab experiment, we filtered CaCl and CaOH2 solutions that we prepared the previous week and transferred both of the filtrates using a 25 ml pipette into two erlenmeyer flasks. We then prepared the standard HCl by pipeting 100 ml of HCl to prepare 250 ml of 0.04M HCl from the 0.1 M HCl solution that we initially had. We pipeted 100 ml of HCl into a 250 ml volumetric flask and diluted to the mark. The buret was...

A) For an experiment you are doing in lab, you need 50.0mL of a 2.50 x...

A) For an experiment you are doing in lab, you need 50.0mL of a 2.50 x 10-2 M solution of Ni(NO3)2. Describe how you would prepare this solution from solid nickel nitrate and water to make the most accurate and reproducible solution as possible. Include any necessary calculations and a description of each step you would follow in the lab. Indicate what items you would use from the “tool-box” shown on the next page. (Please limit your description toeightsentences or...

Thermodynamics of potassium nitrate dissolving in water experiment post-lab questions: What does the sign of the...

Thermodynamics of potassium nitrate dissolving in water experiment post-lab questions: What does the sign of the delta G tell you about the dissolution process for this experiment? Is the dissolution process spontaneous at all temperature? If not at what temperature does this spontaneity change?

How to design an experiment In a lab, you will have access to a mystery metal,...

How to design an experiment In a lab, you will have access to a mystery metal, a string, a retort stand, a beaker, a kettle, water, two thermometers, a stopwatch, a weight scale, and an insulated container with cup and lid. The metal can be submerged in the container of water such that the water provides a temperature bath for the metal. Design determine the specific heat capacity of the mystery metal. In your preparatory assignment: brass an experiment that...

Compare distilled water to tap water. Can you call these solutions? Are these electrolytes or nonelectrolytes?...

Compare distilled water to tap water. Can you call these solutions? Are these electrolytes or nonelectrolytes? Why? What other solutions can you think that are examples of electrolyte and nonelectrolyte solutions? please use more than 150 words.

You made a solution by combining 105.5 grams of ethanol (C2H5OH) and 449.5 grams of water....

You made a solution by combining 105.5 grams of ethanol (C2H5OH) and 449.5 grams of water. The resulting solution has a density of 0.971 g/ml. With this information answer the following questions. 1. What is the mass percent of ethanol of this solution? 2. What is the molarity of this solution? 3. What is the mole fraction of ethanol of this solution? 4. What is the molality of this solution?

Subjects