GROUP C TECHNOLOGY 4: The properties of plastics

ACTIVITY 1
1. Plastics do not usually conduct electricity. Think of as many different ways in which this property is used in the home or at work.
To avoid being electrocuted, the tool handles are made of plastic and plugs too. The cables are surrounded by plastic to insulate electrical currents.

2. A lot of the plastics used to package foods are transparent. How might this increase food safety?
The plastics used to package foods to protect it from bacterium, are safe and hygienic, are light, are resistant and hard, havent got smelt or flavor and are an insulating thermal.

3. Plastics are widely used in hospitals. Look at the picture. What are the particular advantages of using plastics in this way? Think of the advantages that cheapness of production brings.
The advantages are that they are more resistant to corrosion to chemical substances and to the breaks, have a more specific resistance and less specific weight. They are cheaper because their habitual process of fabrication give air pressure, by injection, thermo forming, pressing and calendaring are cheaper specially in big quantities and has a lot of possibilities in the design.

4. Plastics are likely to be safer than glass because they do not break, and safer than steel because they do not rust and are less likely to have jagged edges. Can you think of objects made from plastics which might pose a hazard to people or animals if not disposed of sensibly?
The plastics bags if you dont be careful with them the babies and the animals can be drown, the objects when got small pieces or the object made from plastics of bad quality

5. Some plastics can withstand very high temperatures, why might this be useful?
To make a lot of differences, objects with a lot of different properties, because is easy to mold and get the shape we want.

6. Some plastics are waterproof and resistant to attack by chemicals. Think of ways in which these properties are useful to us.
These properties are useful because they are resistant to the external assaults.

ACTIVITY 2
1. Around 30-50% of food produced in developing countries is wasted before it reaches the consumer, whereas in Western Europe this figure is only 2-3%. Modern plastics packaging plays a part in this. What other factors might be responsible for this wide difference?
Because we have better method of conservation and our food had more chemical products that make the food resistant more time.

2. Look around at home in the kitchen or bathroom or in a supermarket. Find as many different ways as you can in which plastics add to be safe use of other things.
The kitchen utensils like the palettes, the frying pans They have handles of plastic that prevent us from burning. The packing of plastics from the shampoo and the body lotion lead us to use it easily and to use easier some chemical products to clean the house.

3. By weight, plastics account for about 50% of the packaging of food sold in supermarkets, yet only 17% of packaging waste by weight is plastics. Look at these pictures and think of the food you buy yourselves. Make a list of different types of packaging for food. Think in particular of examples of how shape is used as a means of protection.
-Yogurts -Pasta -Meat -Ham packaging -Frozen food Examples of plastics that protect: Polyethylene of high and low density, polypropylene, polystyrene.

4. Expanded polystyrene is an alternative to corrugated cardboard as a protective packaging material. Design an investigation to compare the effectiveness of the protection offered by the two materials against penetration by a sharp object such a screwdriver. You will need to think of the quantity of each material used to provide a fair comparison. Discuss your ideas before you begin the investigation.
POLYSTYRENE -It can be dulled due to its low resistance CORRUGED CARDBOARD -Its more difficult to drill due to the different layers that form it and its hardness.

5. Bubble-wrap is widely used to protect delicate objects such as crockery. Just how effective is it? How much protection can it give to an egg? Design an investigation which compares the amount of protection given to the shell of a hard-boiled egg as the amount of bubble-wrap used changes. Begin by thinking of ways in which you can carry out the investigation.
Bubbles provide cushioning to delicate or fragile items. Depends on the thickness of the plastic provides greater or lesser cushioning on impact. The shell protects it but can break under impact, pohite? The bubble wrap protects the egg to impacts. The shell protects him but upon impact the egg is easy to break, while the bubble wrap protects from impact

ACTIVITY 3
1. Suggest why using bottles made from plastics on jet aircraft can save up to $6000 per year on the cost of running an aircraft.
Because the plastic is lighter, that allows the jet aircraft to go faster and spend less gas. And the plastic is more economical than other materials.

2. What else might you need to know about the plastic bottles before you could say whether the real saving was $6000? Explain how it might be more or less than this figure.
Weight, density, mass. Plastic bottles are hygienic, so they are the most common. Theyre lighter so its easy to use

3. When faced with a choice of using plastic or paper bags which do you choose? Why? What does it depend on? Make a list of the advantages of both paper and plastic bags for holding fruit and vegetables.
Paper bags because they are: -made of renewable resources (friendly with the environment) -easier to recycle than plastics It depends on the weight ADVANTAGES (plastics) -easy to carry -cheap -light weight ADVANTAGES (paper bags) -are made from renewable natural resources (trees,etc) -easy to recycle -can be reused

-more durable than paper bags -reusable Recyclable (difficult)

4. Compare the masses of plastic and paper bags which are used to carry fruit and vegetables. First of all decide how you will ensure that your test is a fair one.
In order the analysis is just we must put the same weight in bath bags and then weight them separately to know which weight more. Will weigh more the paper bag because the plastic one is lighter than paper one.

5. Looking at your results, discuss what the impact would be on the mass of packaging used if we had to use paper bags all the time.
It would be heavier because the paper weigh more than plastics. It will be brake more because the paper packings are more fragile and it has a great impact on the environment because its necessary to cut more trees and they can be recycled less than plastics one.

6. Compare a soft drink carried in a plastic, glass, metal, and card container. Measure the masses of the total package and the masses of the liquids they contain. Make a chart showing the percentage of the total mass which is taken up by the packaging material.
If you put the soft drink proportionally in all the containers you can observe that the liquids mass wont change, therefore the total package mass depends on each containers mass. The heaviest is the metal and the lightest is card container.

7. Compare a one-litre drink packed in glass and one packed in plastics. Make a list of the differences in the use of energy as it moves: - from the factory to warehouse to storage in the shop -from storage in the shop to the shelves -from shelves to checkout to home and storage
DRINK OF GLASS -Doesnt pollute -Recyclable -Clean and pure -Hygienic -Unsafe -Doesnt let temperature changes -Heavy DRINK OF PLASTIC -Light -Pollute -Non recyclable (95%) -Toxic elements -Safe

8. Now do the same but compare metal and card drinks packaging with plastics. Are these likely to be similar to glass or plastics? Why?
METAL DRINK -Liquid keep cold -Unsafe -Recyclable CARD DRINK -Liquid is warm -Safe -Recyclable -Low-cost

Yes, because they have some things in common with glasses and plastics.

9. Compare the four materials again. Think of other advantages and disadvantages of each one.
GLASS: foods packaged in glass preserve its flavor and theyre natural, but its one of the most expensive materials. PLASTICS: have variety of forms and theyre unbreakable but absorb odors. CARD: light, packaging but its not resistant. METAL: low-cost, deformation capacity but the contents cannot be seen.

10. Now summarise the advantages and disadvantages of using plastics as containers. Think of energy savings, the amount of raw materials needed, other environmental issues such as pollution and waste, and the impact on our lives.
PLASTICS Advantage -Its cheap -Domestic use -Doesnt degrade -Universal Disadvantage -His production is polluting -His elimination is polluting

-Plastic raw material is oil -There are two types of polluting that affect us primarily: In the car: is produced by toxic gas from factories and vehicles On the surface: is produced by the waste products, mainly plastic and derivatives of oil. -The air polluted affects humans by climate change and lung diseases -The land contaminated by waste pollutes water and aliments that we eat. Made by: Elena Torres, Gloria Pardo, Carlota Lpez, Siwar Aala, Manuel Lupiani and Juanjo Muoz-T.