BriannadeFariaLeite

12/12/14

Chem
BriannaBalke

SludgeReport
ExecutiveSummary

Ibelievethattheewasteplanetshouldnotoperateordumpthesludgein
Pawtucket.Inthesludgetherewassalt,rubbingalcohol,nickel,copper,sand,mineral
oilandwater.Althoughmostofthecomponentsarenottoxictheystillshouldntdump
theriver.Therubbingalcoholistheonlytoxicsubstancebutthatlittlebitoftoxic
substancecanharmmanyanimal.Alsointhesludgetherearemanycomponentsthat
arerecyclablesuchascopper,nickelandmineraloilthatcanbeturnintootheritems
thatcanhelptheenvironment.Sincenotdumpingthesludgeonlybettersthe
environmentiamagainsttheplanetoperatinginPawtucket.
Methods
Mygroupdecidetheeasiestthingtodofirstwastoseparatethesolidsfromthe
liquids.Todothiswetriedtofilterouttheliquidsfromthesolidbutduetothefactwe
hadandoilysubstancethatwouldntgothroughthecoffeefilterwehadtotryadifferent
method.Insteadweusedadroppertosuckouttheliquidscarefullysothatwedidnt
accidentallysuckoutanysandorcopperthatwassettleatthebottom.Afterdoingthis
weusedthecoffeefiltertoseparatetheoilysubstancefromtheotherliquids,sincewe

learnedwhiletryingtoseparatethesolidsthattheoilysubstancewillnotgothroughthe
coffeefilter.Oncewehadtheoilinthecoffeefilterweputitintoadifferentbeakerand
setitaside.
Nextthingwehadtodowasseparatethesolidfromeachother.Wecouldeasily
removetheselittlemetalballsfromtheothersolids.Afterremovingthemetalballswe
foundthemassandvolumeofthemtofindthedensity,whichhelpedusidentifythem
asnickel.Wewereleftwithlittlemetalpiecesstuckinwhatappearedtobesand.To
separatethesmallmetalpiecesfromthesandweaddedwatertothemixtureandwith
muchcareandatremendousamountofpatienceweusedatooltoscrapethesand
particleaway.Whileinthemiddleofthisprocesswenoticewhatwethoughtwassand
tostarttoturngreen.Wedidsomeresearchtoseewhatwasturningwhatwethought
wassandgreen.Welearnedthatcopperturnssandgreensowiththisinformationwe
decidedafterthecopperandsandwasseparatedtojustsetthesandasidesincewas
alreadydeterminedwhatitwas.Justincasethelittlemetalpiecesthatweassumedwas
copperduetotheinformationwefoundwasactuallycopperwefounddensity.We
struggledagreatamountwhentryingtofindthedensityofthecopperbecausewhen
wetriedtoseparateittogetmoredatathedensitywasntaddinguptotheother
informationwecollected.Oncewejustfoundthemassandvolumeofallthecopper
piecestogetherwewereabletofindaproperdensitythatassuredthecopperwas
actuallycopper.
Lastlywehadtoidentifytheliquids.Thefirstliquidweidentifiedwastheoily
substance.Sincetheboilingpointsofoilsistoohighwejustfoundthedensityoftheoil.

Sincethedensitymatchedtwooilsweresearchedwhateachlookedlikeandwe
determinedthatourswasmineraloil.Tofindoutwhattheotherliquidwasweboiledit
togetaboilingpoint.Todothiswehadtosetupadistillationandpaycloseattentionto
thethermometerandtime.WerecordedWethenfoundoutthatwehadtwoliquid
whenoneofthesolventsstartedtoseparateintoanotherbeakerat84.Theliquidthat
wasseparatedwasisopropylalcohol.Afterthatwehadanothersolventremainingto
figureoutwhatitwasweboiledituntilwefoundtheboilingpointwhichwas107C.This
othersolventwaswater.Whenweboiledoffthewaterwewere.Thesolventwas
water.Afterthewaterboiledofftherewasasoluteleftover.Tofindtheleftoversolute
wehadtofindthesolubility.Whenfindingthesolubilityyouhavetofindthemassofthe
soluteandaddwateruntilthesoluteiscompletelydissolved.Oncethesaltdissolvedi
wasabletodeterminethatthelastcomponentofoursludgewassalt.

Findings
Onecomponentofoursludgeissand.Thesolidshadtheappearanceand
texturethatwascompatibletosand.Alsosincethesolidturnedgreenwedidsome
research.Ourresearchshowedusthatwhensandisexposedtosomecopperitturns
green.Theappearanceandthefactthesolidturnedgreenallhelpedusconcludethat
oursolidwasinfactsand.
Byidentifyingthatonecomponentwassandwewerealsoabletodeterminethat
wehadcopperinoursludge.Duetothefactcopperturnssandgreenweknewthatone
3
ofourmetalswerecopper.Thedensityofourmetalwas9.5g/cm
.Thedensityof

3
copperis8.96g/cm
whichistheclosestdensitytoourmetal.Lastlytomakeassurethe

metalwascopper,wecheckedtoseeifthemetalwasmagnetic.Ourmetalwasnot
magneticandneitheriscopper.Sowiththedensity,magnetismandknowledgethat
copperturnssandgreenweknewwehadcopper.
Anothermetalcomponentinoursludgewasnickel.Thedensityofthemetalwas
3
3
8.5g/cm
.
Thisdensityisclosesttothethedensityofnickelwhichis8.91g/cm
.
Withthe

densityIconcludethatthemetalwasinfactnickel.
Oneliquidcomponentinoursludgeismineraloil.Thedensityourourliquidis
.85g/mL.Thedensityofourliquidisclosesttothedensityofcrudeandmineraloil,
whichbothhaveadensityof.80g/mL.Fromtheappearanceoftheoilyoucould
determinethatitismineraloilandnotcrudeoil.Crudeoilisblackwhilemineraloilis
clear.Duetothefactouroilwasclear,weconcludethatwehadmineraloil.
Anotherliquidcomponentofoursludgewasisopropylalcohol(rubbingalcohol).
Whileboilingthesolventwehadwenoticedthataliquidstartedtoseparatefromthe
othersolventat84.Sinceweknewthatwhentheliquidseparatesfromtheotherit
reacheditsboilingpointwecomparedourliquidsboilingpointtootherliquid.The
closestboilingpointofaliquidtooursis82,whichisisopropylalcohol.Alsothesmell
oftheliquidwasverydistinctandsmellsexactlylikerubbingalcohol.Withboththe
distinctsmellandcloseboilingpointwedeterminedthatourliquidwasisopropyl
alcohol.
Theothersolventthatweseparatedfromtheisopropylalcoholinoursludgewas
water.Aftertheisopropylalcoholboiledoffwewereleftwithanothersolventthatboiled

at107.Theboilingpointofoursolventwasclosestthetheboilingpointofwater
whichis100.Sincetheboilingpointsaresoclosewedeterminedourlastunknown
liquidwaswater.
Thelastcomponentofoursludgewassalt.Afterboilingoffboththewaterand
theisopropylalcoholwewereleftwithasolute.Wedissolvedthissoluteinwatertofind
thesolubilitywhichwas24.4g/100mL.Thesolubilityofsaltis36g/100mLwhichwasthe
closestsolubilitytooursolute.Thishelpedmeconcludethatthelastcomponentofour
sludgewassalt.

Component
s

Density

Solubility

Polarity

Color

Magnetic

Copper

3
8.96g/cm

Notsoluble
inwater

NonPolar

Bronz

No

MineralOil

.80g/mL

Notsoluble
inwater

NonPolar

Clear

No

Nickle

3
8.91g/cm

Notsoluble
inwater

NonPolar

Silver

Yes

Isopropyl
Alcohol

.79g/mL

Notsoluble
inwater

NonPolar

Clear

No

Sand

unknown

Notsoluble
inwater

NonPolar

Tan

No

Salt

unknown

36g/100mL Polar

White

No

Water

1g/mL

Cantbe
solublein
itself

Clear

No

Polar