Lab Activity: Making Slime
Warning: This lab uses Borax (sodium tetraborate decahydrate). When mixed with water, it forms a solution of boric acid and the borate ion. If ingested/gets into a cut, it can be very harmful. If you have any cuts on your hands, please wear gloves. Please wash hands thoroughly prior to eating or drinking anything.
When you mix polyvinyl alcohol with sodium tetraborate decahydrate, hydrogen bonding is occurring and making cross-links. This is causing the creation of long strands of polymers.
Purpose: What is the purpose of this experiment?
Materials:
Purpose: What is the purpose of this experiment?
Materials:
- 25 mL 4% aqueous solution polyvinyl alcohol
- 10 mL 4% aqueous solution Borax
- 25 mL graduated cylinder
- 10 mL graduated cylinder
- Glass stirring rod
- Plastic cup
- Water-based marker
- Food colouring
- Petri dish
- Dropper
- 0.5 M HCl
- 0.5 M NaOH
- Collect 25 mL of the polyvinyl alcohol solution, and 10 mL of the Borax solution.
- Add the PVA to the plastic cup. If you like, you can add one drop of the food colouring of your choice at this point.
- Add the Borax solution to the cup.
- Stir, stir, stir. Stir vigorously until you have a gel.
- Take the slime out of the cup and knead it, rolling it around in your hands, to make sure everything is mixed together. Do your best to remove any air bubbles.
- Pull the slime apart slowly.
- Pull the slime apart quickly.
- Make a ball of slime and drop it on the lab bench.
- Place some slime on the lab bench and hit it with your hand.
- Write your name on a piece of paper with the marker provided. Apply the slime to your name on the paper, press down, then lift the slime off the paper.
- Add some slime to your Petri dish. With the dropper, add the HCl drop-wise until something happens. Be sure to count the number of drops added. Then, to the same slime on the Petri dish, add NaOH drop-wise until something happens. Be sure to count the number of drops added.
- Based on your observations of the preceding 6 experiments, explain what was occurring in each instance. Refer to the structure and bonding of polymers in your answers.
- What is a non-Newtonian fluid?
- Polyvinyl alcohol is also known as polyethenol.
- Draw the structure.
- Draw the structure of the borate ion.
- Draw the structure of the resulting PVA-borate ion polymer chain. Hint: Cross-linking and H-bonding is occurring.