Silly Putty Physical Property TestsThe family of James Wright, an engineer looking for a replacement for plastic used for boots and tires in World War II, is suing a dollar store for putting the brand name Silly Putty on the stretchy plastic they sell. The family says they have data to show that the putty being sold is NOT the real silly putty. You will be collecting physical property data, the observable characteristics of a substance without changing the substance, to support their law suit.

You will collect both qualitative and quantitative tests to provide proof that the dollar store product is not the original Silly Putty.

Quantitative observations are measureable and use numbers or a numeric scale. Qualitative observations use descriptive words or adjectives. Qualitative observations can be converted to quantitative observations using a numeric scale.

Qualitative Observations Quantitative ObservationsTest Results Test Results

Original Silly Putty

Dollar Store Putty

Original Silly PuttyUnits:

Dollar Store PuttyUnits:

Slow Poke Supported Slump Test

Quick Poke Unsupported Slump Test

Slow PullQuick Pull

Team-Defined Test

1. Brainstorm either a Qualitative or Quantitative test using the supplies on your tray.2. Record your test name on either the qualitative or quantitative side of the data table above.3. Write a detailed test procedure on the back of this lab sheet so a person who is unfamiliar with stretchy

plastic has enough information to correctly perform the test.4. Compare the results.

Description of Silly Putty Physical Property Tests

Slow Poke- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a ball. Place the putty on the sheet of paper. Place your finger on top of the ball and push down with your finger at a rate of 1 centimeter every second. Describe what happens in the data table.

Quick Poke- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a ball. Place the putty on the sheet of paper. Place your finger on top of the ball and push with your finger as fast as you can. Describe what happens in the data table.

Name______________________________________

Per._____

Slow Pull- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a 1 centimeter diameter cylinder. Working above the sheet of paper, pull the putty apart with both hands. Pull your hands apart at a rate of 2.5 centimeters every second. Describe what happens in the data table.

Quick Pull- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a 1 centimeter diameter cylinder. Working above the sheet of paper, pull the putty apart with both hands. Pull your hands apart as fast as you can. Describe what happens in the data table.

Supported Slump Test- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a 1 centimeter diameter cylinder. Place the cylinder flat on the paper and start the timer. At the 1 minute mark, pick up the cylinder and measure the width of the flat rectangle on the bottom of the cylinder. Record the width of the rectangle in centimeters in the data table.

Unsupported Slump Test- Place a sheet of paper on a desk. Roll the putty into a 0.5 centimeter diameter cylinder. Build a test apparatus by standing 2 Jenga block on the thin side, and place the card with the rectangular open on top. See picture. Place the cylinder of putty across the whole on the card and start the timer. At the 1 minute mark, measure the distance between the bottom of the cylinder and the top of the card. Record the distance in centimeters in the data table.

Team Defined Test:

Conclusion:

1. Which physical properties are different when you compare the Silly Putty and the dollar store putty?

2. Does the Wright family have enough data to show that the putty sold at the dollar store is NOT the original Silly Putty? Please use data to support your claim.

3. Were qualitative or quantitative tests best to compare physical properties? Why do you think so?