My hwk Q that I was trying to find the answer to yesterday is this below but I don't know exactly how the placticizing process works. I compiled the chemicals I think I need but other than that I'm stumped as to how to put them together or how.
Q:
A water pipe has burst in your home. Being a poor college student and a good organic laboratory student you decide to fix the pipe yourself keeping in mind that a simple patch will not work. You will have to construct your own piping. your are able to order any chemicals needed. Describe what polymer you would make, why, and how.
I don't even know why they ask us these things...anyway. I came up with polyethylene as the plastic I think is suitable for producing pipes.
I think I'd need
ethylene, Ziegler-Natta catalyst (TiCl4)+ alluminum based co-catalyst Al(C2H5)3
I read somewhere that commercially they put it in a fluidized bed but I'm not sure if I could just say that I would use the fluidized bed at this imaginary school..(I don't think any school has one of these in reality)
statement taken from site:
"ethylene is put into a fluidized bed, where a polymerization reaction takes place, converting the ethylene into polyethylene. This process needs very high pressures and a catalyst."
but other than that..I don't know how it works or how I can describe it.
Option B..
use acetone and styrofoam and melt together to form a polymer. problem: not strong enough to form pipe and I think they don't want that as an answer.
Thank you
1 answer