By: Rachel Fuchs Mr. Gorden 5th Period Making Milk Plastic By: Rachel Fuchs Mr. Gorden 5th Period 12/4/14

Which of my acids and whole milk will make the best plastic? lemon juice

Background I chose this experiment because it caught my attention and it’s not one of your ‘normal’ experiments. I know there are a lot of other experiments that are way more complicated than the one I chose. I didn't want to do a really complicated experiment. Making milk plastics seemed like a simple, fun, and creative experiment to do for the Science Fair. This experiment is not just about making something….It’s about making a compound. Compounds...That word sounds kinda boring...So why not make it fun with a little experiment?

Hypothesis My hypothesis is that whole milk and vinegar will make the strongest plastic. I say this because vinegar is a stronger acid than lemon juice. The stronger acid won't mix with the milk as well, which will cause it to become a thicker plastic.

~ The type of acid Variables Independent Dependent ~ The best result/ Strongest plastic Controlled ~boiling time, amount of milk, and amount of acid

Materials *Measuring cup *Lemon Juice *Vinegar *Whole Milk *Small Pot *Gloves *Stove

1.Heat up one cup of Milk into one pot Procedure 1.Heat up one cup of Milk into one pot 2.Heat up another cup of milk into a separate pot and heat both until hot, but not boiling 3. Carefully pour the two pots of milk into separate bowls 4.Add 4 tsp Vinegar to one of the bowls, Add 4 tsp Lemon Juice to the other bowl 5.Stir both of those with a spoon for about a minute 6.Pour the compound into a strainer over the sink,Left in the strainer is a mass of lumpy blobs 7.After the compound cools, Rinse them off with water while you mold them 8. Let them sit for a few days and harden 9.After they are completely dry test to see which one can hold the most amount of weight 10.Record the data and Graph

Data Acid Cups of milk Amount of acids Forms Curds? (yes/no) Weight of plastic? Vinegar One Cup 4 tsp Yes 1.5 lbs Lemon Juice Not Really. 1.3 lbs

Conclusion Which of my acids and whole milk will make the best plastic? This experiment is about making a compound. You heat the milk and mix acids with it to make a plastic. You can mold it into any shape you would like. The vinegar made a better plastic, i say this because it has a better plastic look,feeling and weighs more. My data does support my hypothesis because i said that vinegar and whole milk would work better because vinegar is a stronger acid and it won’t mix with the milk as much which will cause it to have more clumps and be thicker. I learned that most acids and bases don’t mix well together. A problem that occured is that my strainer had too big of holes and most of the ‘plastic’ went down the drain, so i redid it and used a smaller strainer the next time. Something i would do different is try a stronger acid and a base and see which one would create a better plastic with whole milk. The End