TracyRompich

BriannaBalke
ChemistrySludgeReport

SludgeTestFindings#1
Onecomponentfrommysludgeisnickel.Sincemysludgewasclear,mygroupcould
clearlyseefivesilverspheres.Mygroupdecidedtofindthedensityofthemetalinorderto
findoutwhattypeofmetalitis.Tofinddensity,weneededtofindvolumeandmass.Once
3
found,wedividedmasswithvolumeandfoundthatthedensitywas8.82g/cm
,whichis
3
closesttothedensityofnickel,8.91g/cm
.Overall,becauseofthecolorofthemetaland

density,mygroupconcludedthattheunknownsubstancewasnickel.

SludgeTestFindings#2
Inadditiontothenickelinmygroupssludge,wealsofoundwater.Whiledistillingthe
unknownliquids,itstartedtoboilatprecisely107,whichissimilarlyclosetotheactual
boilingpointofwater,at100.Waterisapolarsubstance,soitwasmixedwithotherpolar
substanceslikesaltandrubbingalcohol.Obviously,waterisclear,sothefactthattheliquid
wasclearalongwiththeboilingpointstronglysupportedourassumptionthattheliquidis
water.

SludgeTestFindings#3
Anothercomponentthatmygroupfoundinthesludgeisrubbingalcohol.While
distillingtheliquidsinthesludge,whichwereallclear,wefoundaboilingpointoneofthe
unknownliquids.Theboilingpointwas86Cwhichisquitesimilartotheactualboilingpointof
rubbingalcohol,82C.Notonlydoestheboilingpointshowtheunknownliquidisrubbing
alcohol,butthecharacteristicsdotoo.Rubbingalcoholisalsoapolarsubstance,soitmakes

senseitwasmixedinwiththewater.Thesubstancealsohadastrongsmell,hintingfurther
thatitwasrubbingalcohol.Theliquidwasclear,justlikerubbingalcoholwhichalsosupports
whytheunknownliquidwasrubbingalcohol.

SludgeTestFindings#4
Therewasalsoanoilincorporatedinthesludgewhichweseparatedusingacoffee
filter.Oilisnonpolarandonlymixeswithothernonpolarsubstances,sobecauseitdidntmix
inwiththeothersubstances,weknewitwasanoil.Thisoilwasclearandmygroupchoseto
findthedensityinordertofigureoutthetypeofoil.Wefoundthemassoftheoilandthe
volume.Afterwedividedmasswithvolume,wegotadensityof0.85g/mL.Thiswasclosestto
theactualdensityofmineraloil,0.80g/mL.So,becauseofthecoloroftheoilandthedensity,
mygroupconcludedtheunknownoilisinfactmineraloil.

SludgeTestFindings#5
Infusedwiththeliquidswasanunknownsubstance.Afterdistillingalltheliquids,we
wereleftwithawhitepowderlikesubstance.Weknewitwasapolarsubstance,sinceit
mixedinwiththeliquidsthatwerealsopolar.Inordertoidentifythesolute,mygroupfound
thesolubilitybyaddingwatertothesoluteuntilitdissolved.After25mLofwater,thesolute
dissolved.Wefoundoutthatthesolutedissolved6.1gevery25mLofwater,whichis
equivalentto24.4g/100mLwhichisclosesttothesolubilityofsalt,36g/100mL.In
conclusion,becauseoftheappearanceandsolubilityofthesolute,mygroupcanbeconfident
insayingtheunknownsubstanceissalt.

SludgeTestFindings#6
Mygroupreceivedaflaskofsludgecontainingalittlepiecesofmetal,copper.The
metalwasanorangecolor,sothatmademygroupguessthatthemetalwascopper.After

findingthemassandvolume,mygroupdividedmassbyvolume.Thedensitycameoutto
3
3
9.5g/cm
.Theactualdensityis8.96g/cm
,whichwastheclosesttothedensitymygroup

found.Inconclusion,mygroupfoundoutthattheunknownmetalinthesludgewasinfact
copperbecauseoftheappearanceanddensity.

SludgeTestFindings#7
Thefinalcomponentinmysludgewassand.Thesubstancenotonlylookedlikesand,
butalsofeltlikesand.Whileleavingthesandtodryoutmixedinwiththecopper,thesand
turnedgreen,givingusmoreevidence.Wesearchedupwhatmetalturnssandgreen,and
foundthatitwascopper,sothatwasanotherpieceofevidenceshowingthatthesubstance
wassand.Overall,mygroupconcludedthatitwassandbecauseoftheappearanceand
texture.

Methods

Mygroupfirstplannedoutwhatwewoulddotoseparateallofthecomponentsinour
sludge.sincewesawthattherewerebothsolidsandliquidsinoursludge,wedecidedto
separatethemfirst.Wetookoutthemetalsandsandwithacoffeefilterandalsoseparated
theoilfromtheotherliquidswithacoffeefilter.Mygroupfoundthedensityofthatoil,and
thenmovedontotheothercomponentsonceweidentifiedthatoil.
Wehadsomemetalspheres,sothatwaseasytotakeawayfromthepile.Wefound
thedensityofthatmetalbyfindingthemassandvolume,thendividingthem.Afterfindingthe
densityandconcludingwhichmetalitwas,wemovedtothenextcomponentofoursludge.
Thereweretinypiecesofmetalstucktogetherwiththegrainsofsand,soseparatingthem
wouldbedifficult.Luckily,wefoundthatbothseparatefromeachotherquiteeasily,with
water.Mygroupspentabouttwohoursjusttryingtoseparateallthepiecesofmetalfromthe

sand.But,wefinallydiditandfoundthedensityofthatmetal.Sincetherewassand,we
automaticallyknewitwassand.
Wefinallymovedontotheliquids,andbeganourdistillation.Whileheatingupthe
liquids,mygroupfoundthatoneoftheliquidsbeganboilingataround84C,sowewereable
toidentifyit.Afterawhile,theliquidbeganboilingagain,butthistimeat107andagain,my
groupwasabletoidentifyit.Aftertheliquidsevaporated,wewereleftwithafinal,solid
substance.Mygroupdecidedtofindthesolubility,andwewerefinallyabletoidentifythe
substanceassalt.Afterallofourhardwork,mygroupaccomplishedourgoal,offindingall
thecomponentsinoursludge.

Table:
Solids:
Component

Density

Solubility

Polarity

Color

Magnetic?

sand

neither

tan

no

nickel

3
8.91g/cm

neither

silver

yes

copper

3
8.96g/cm

neither

orange

no

salt

3
2,17g/cm
36g/100mL polar

white

no

Liquids:
Component

BoilingPoint

Density

Color

Flammability

mineraloil

0.8g/mL

clear

no

water

100

1g/mL

clear

no

rubbing
alcohol

82

0.79g/mL

clear

yes

ExecutiveSummary

Thecompanyshouldbeabletogoalongwiththeirplanbecauseinmyresearch,
someofthecomponentsweretoxic,likerubbingalcoholandnickel.Inthesludge
samplethatIhad,therewasnickel,rubbingalcohol,copper,sand,water,mineraloil,
andsalt.withresearch,Ifoundoutthatbigamountsofnickelcanaffectpeopleby
damagingtheirlungsorkidneys.Thatisdefinitelynotsafeforpeople.Althoughithelps
someanimallife,bigamountscanstillhurtthem,anditisrecycledintostainlesssteel.
So,insteadofdumpingthenickelintotheriver,itshouldberecycled.Nickelisntthat
valuable,butitcanbesold.Movingon,coppercanbereusedasmetalandcanbe
valuablebecauseitsthemostcommonlyusedmetal.Itnottoxic,whichishelpful.Next
issand.Sandissand,soitsnotreallytoxic,valuable,orrecyclable.Mineraloilisnot
toxic,isrecyclable,andisntreallyvaluable.Anothercomponentwaswater.Waterisan
importantpartofalllives,soitsvaluableinthatway,andcanberecycled.Rubbing
alcoholistoxicandpoisonousandisntrecyclableorvaluable.Finally,therewassalt.
Saltisnttoxic,itcanberecycled,andisntvaluable.Overall,ifthecompanywereto
dumpallofthisintoaplacethatisntnearIacceptthattheydothat.But,iftheywereto
dumpitinanopenplacewhereitsexposedtomanypeople,itwouldbebetterifthey
didnt.