HaleySousa

113015
SludgeReport
Chemistry

ExecutiveSummary
No,EWasteshouldnotbeallowedtosetupaplantinPawtucket.Thecomponentsthatareinmysludgewere
Zinc,Iron,Water,IsopropylAlcohol,CornOilandTableSalt.TheyshouldnotsetupaplantbecauseZinc,Iron,
IsopropylAlcoholandCornOilareallrecyclable.Beforedumpingitintotheriver,theyshouldremovethe
recyclablesubstancesandrecyclethem.Also,IronandRubbingalcoholarebothtoxic.Ifsomeonewereto
inhalethemorswallowthem,theycouldhaveseriousorgandamageandotherharmfulbodilyeffects.Ifthey
weretoremovetherecyclableandtoxicthenitwouldbesafetosetupanEWasteinPawtucket.

Methods

First,wefilteredouttheliquidsfromthesolids.Weapproachedthistaskbyusingacoffeefilterandafunnel.
Asweweredoingthiswefoundoutthattheoillikesubstancewastoothicktogothroughthefilter,makingit
easiertoseparateintoadifferentbeaker.Next,weputthesolidsleftoverintoalittlecontainer.Weusedour
fingerstotakethelargersubstancesout.Afterthetwosilverlikeobjectswereseparatedwecleanedthemoff
usingadropper.Thattooklongerthanweanticipateditto.Toruleoutsomeoptions,wedecidedtouse
conductivitytoseeifititconductedelectricity.Itdidnot.Afterthatwefoundthedensityoftheeachofthe
unknownsubstanceseparately.Theseobjectslooksomuchalike,wewereastonishedtofindoutthe
densitiesmatcheduptodifferentmetals.So,wedecidedtotreatthemlikeonemetalandfindthedensityof
themtogether.Again,wegotinaccuratedata.Wefoundoutthatbecauseoftheoddstructureofthemetals,
wehadtoreleasetheairbubbles.Wefoundthedensityofitandfinallygotaccuratedata.Next,wefoundthe
densityoftheoilsubstance.Aftermultipletrials,wefinallyfoundthelogicalconclusion.Nowthattheoilwas
allset,wedecidedtousedistillationtoseparatetheremainingliquid.Thisdefinitelytooklongerthanwe
anticipated.Whileweweredoingdistillationwedecidedtofigureoutwhatthesharpiesmellingpowderwas.
First,wewantedtoseeifitwasmagnetictoruleoutsomeoptions.Itturnsoutitwasmagneticandthatsoon
leadustoourconclusion.Sincethebottlehadarustycolortoit,wedecidedtoseeifitwouldrustsoweleft
itinwaterfor2days.Whenwereturnedwesawthatitdidrustandthroughourevidencewecametoa
conclusionofwhatthepowderwas.Afterfinallyfinishingdistillation,wesawthatahardwhiterockypowder
wasleftatthebottomofthebulb.Weusedsaturationpointtofindoutwhatthatsubstanceis.

Table

Component
Density
Solubility
Polarity
Color
Magnetic?
3
Water
N/A
Polar
Clear
No
1g/cm
Zinc

7.14g/cm 3

No

NonPolar

Iron

7.87g/cm 3

No

NonPolar

CornOil

.92g/mL

NonPolar

Isopropyl
Alcohol

.79g/mL

Slightlysoluble
inalcohol
No

Polar

Grey,spotsof
darkercolor,
folded
Rusted,black,
smellslike
sharpie,looks
sortofwet
Faintyellow,
thick,Oily
Clear,Smells
likealcohol

No

Yes

No
No

(Rubbing
Alcohol)
Salt

2.17g/cm 3

Yes

Polar

Hard,white,
rocklike
becausein
water

No

Findings

OneofmyunknownsolidsthatwasinmysludgewasZinc.Itwasachallengetofigureoutwhatthismetal
was.Tofindthis,wedecidedtogothedensityroute.Therewastwopiecesofthismetalsowefoundthe
densityofthemseparately.Aftergettinginaccuratedata,wedecidedtoredotheprocedure.Thistime,we
treatedthemetalasone.Again,wegotinaccuratedata.So,welearnedthatsincethemetalwasinafolded
andpreviouslymeltedlikeshape,wehavetohitthegraduatedcylinderonthetabletoreleasethewater
bubblestrappedinsidethemetal.Afterfinallygettingaccuratedatawecametotheconclusionthatthemetal
wasinfactZinc.Theaveragedensitywas5.136g/cm 3 .ThedensitywasclosesttoZincsactualdensity,
7.14g/cm 3 .Sinceitwasclosesttothatspecificdensity,wecanconcludetheunknownmetalisZinc.
Oneofmyunknownliquidsiswater.Weknewthattherewaswaterinthesludgeinitially.But,weadded
somemorewaterafterwardstogettherestofthesolidsoutoftheflask.Toseparateliquidsfromeachother
weuseddistillation.Whenthetemperaturestaysthesameforalongperiodoftime,thenaspecificliquidhas
reacheditsboilingpoint.Duringthedistillation,thetemperaturestayedat99Cforabout10minutes.The
boilingpointforwateris100C.Itisprobablytakingsolongtoboilbecausethereisalargeamountofwaterin
thesludge.

Oneofmyunknownliquidsiscornoil.Wefoundthatthedensityofouroilwas.90g/mL.Thatmatchedup
tocornoilsdensity,whichis.92g/mL.Whenwefilteredouttheliquidsfromthewater,wefoundoutthatthe
oilysubstancewastoothicktodrainthroughthecoffeefilter.Thismadeiteasiertoseparateandcalculate
thedensity.Thefirsttimewedidourdensityoftheliquid,wegotinaccurateresults.Theoilitmatchedupto
wasablackcoloredoilbutourswasyellow.So,wetrieditagain.AFterdoingitagain,wefoundoutthatitwas
cornoil.Justtobesure,wegoogledapictureofcornoilandinourfavor,thecolormatchedup,confirming
thatitiscornoil.

OneofmyunknownliquidswasIsopropylAlcohol,orrubbingalcohol.Weuseddistillationtoseparateliquids
fromeachother.Whenthetemperaturereachedabout88C,itstayedthesameforalmost3minutes.This
meansthataliquidhasreacheditsboilingpoint.Theactualboilingpointforrubbingalcoholis82C.Afterthe
alcoholwasseparatedoutandputinthebeaker,wesmeltitanditsmeltlikealcohol.Anothercluethat
appearedwasthatnomatterwhatweputoverthebeaker,itevaporatedovernight.Weknowthatalcohol
evaporatesinanextremelyshortamountoftime.Betweenthesmell,theboilingpointandtheevaporation
wecametotheconclusionthattheunknownliquidisIsopropylAlcohol.

Themysterypowderatthebottomofoursludgeisiron.Mygroupsavedthisfindingforlast.During
distillationwenoticedinthebulbthatthewaterwasarustorangecolor.Thiscolorwasalsoonthesidesof
theflask.Immediatelyweknewthatthiscolorresultedfromarustmetalbecauserustoccurswhenarustable
metalisexposedtowateroroxygen.Also,openingthelidofthecontainerthatitwasin,releasedahorrible
smell.Itsmeltlikeasharpie.Becausethepowderlookeddamp,weputitoverahotplatetodryitout.After
thatdidnotdoanything,weagreedthatthepowderwasjustadarkcolor.So,wetookamagnettoseeifthe
darkcoloredsandwasmagnetic,andturnsoutitwas.Still,thiswasn'tenoughtoconfidentlyidentifythis
rustymetal.Justtobesureitwasrustandnotsomethingelse,weleftalittleofthepowderinwater,sealed,
forafewdays.Cometofindoutthewaterturnedthesamecolorasthecoloronthesideoftheflasksand
insidethedistillationbulb.Nextwedidsomeresearchtoseewhichmetalsrust.TheresultwasSteelandIron.
Weknewthatourmetalwasmagneticsowedecidedtoseeifeithersteelorironwasmagnetic.Finally,we
foundoutthatIronwasthemetalthatrustsandweweresoconfidentthatwebelievedthatwedidnothave
tofindthedensity.Wecametotheconclusionthatourmetalpowderisiron.
Afterwedidourdistillation,wenoticedahardwhitesubstanceonthebottomofthebulb.Thatsubstance
wastablesalt.Tofindthisoutwedecidedtofindthesolubilityoftheunknownpowder.First,wefoundthe
massofthebeakerwithjust100mLofwaterinit.Oncethesolutewasdissolvedinthesolvent,wetookthe
massofthebeakerwiththesoluteinit.Thatcalculationgaveus28g/100mL.Tablesaltsactualsaturation
pointis36g/100mL.Wealsoknowthatthepowderwaswhiteandsinceiswaswet,itbecamehard,likea
rock.Itsmeltlikeoldcoffee.Withallofthisevidence,wecametotheconclusionthatthemysterypowder
wasindeedittablesalt.

Rubric

SludgeAnalysis(LabWork)
Componentof
Identified?(5pointseach)
Sludge

WrittenReport
ExecutiveSummary
Claim(5points)
Evidence(5points)
Reasoning(5points)

Methods
(ClearlyDescribed)
Table
(Showscharacteristicchemicalandphysicalproperties)
Findings
(CERParagraphs)
Identified
Claim(2points)
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reasoning(2
Component
Evidence?(2
Evidence?(2
points)
points)
points)
Water

WrittenReportTotal

Total

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Total

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/5
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