Phy 1) The color of the banana peel is yellow, which is easy to see in the picture above. This is why it is my first physical properties.
Phy 2) The soft texture of the banana peel is the second physical property because the hardness of an item is very useful.
Phy 3) The banana peel is not conductive, the third physical property. This is proven in the picture above, showing a banana peel hooked up to a battery and light bulb in a circuit. If the peel was conductive then the light bulb would be lit up. Since it is not then I have proved it is not conductive.
Phy 4) The banana peel is not magnetic. This is the fourth physical property and is proved in the picture above. My locker magnet is placed by it but no pull towards each other is felt. This proves the peel isn't magnetic.
Phy 5) The mass of the banana peel is the last physical property. The mass is 15 g. I determined this number be taking the total mass of the banana which is 120 g. I got this info at this site. I then divided it by 8 due to the info at this site that said that a banana peel is 1/8 the mass of the banana. Therefore the mass is 120/8 = 15.
Chemical Properties:
Before:
After:
Chem 1) The first chemical property is the ability of the banana peel to decompose. As you can see in the before and after pictures above, over the course of 24 hours the banana peel already was starting to decompose. If you look closely you can see in the after picture the peel on the inside is a dark brown. This shows the beginnings of decomposition.
Chem 2) The second chemical property is the ability of the peel to light on fire. It is plain to see in the picture, the banana peel is starting to light. Although it won't burn by itself, it most certainly will light if thrown into a fire.
Chem 3) Another chemical property is the corroding ability of the banana peel. In the series of pictures shown above I put vinegar on the peel. Although no changes are visible, there is a distinct smell which is a sign of a chemical change. I'll leave this one for the pro's to decide on.
Chem 4) Yet another chemical property is that the banana peel doesn't react with water. As shown in the above picture, there is no reaction with the water and the banana peel.
Chem 5) The last chemical property is the banana peels inability to rust. Rust is caused by a chemical reaction between iron and air. Since there is insufficient amounts of iron in the banana to rust, it can't.
I hope this journey through the universe of the banana peel has been insightful and interesting.
Well done Paxton! I do happen to have some things to point out:
ReplyDelete1. I did like your physical properties, but in my opinion, you had too many "nots." Try to focus more on the physical changes that can happen rather than what can't.
2. I loved the decomposition photos. The clovers that grew around it were the perfect way to show that the banana was decomposing because it was fertilizing the soil!
3. When reacting with the acid, what did it smell like. If it smelled like vinegar, would you still think that it was a chemical reaction?
4. The chemical property showing that it had the inability to rust I thought was a bit out of context. Rusting occurs over a long period of time, so I'm not quite sure how you proved it couldn't unless you had a long term experiment. Not to mention, rusting occurs with iron, so showing that it can't rust is more like explaining its composition: that there was no iron in the banana peel.
All in all, I think your idea with the banana peel really tripped me up, in a good way(Punny, isn't it)!!!
As cyrus mentioned above, many of properties focused on the composition of the Banana peel. although your project was good I would advise straying away from this as it does not demonstrate a truly unique property. In my opinion I felt that things like "The Banana peel is not magnetic" are examples where you focused on the basic composition of the peel. I would also advise trying things that you think might actually work if you know what I mean. What I am trying to say is that I feel there was little doubt in your mind that the peel would not be magnetic or that it would not rust, and the people reading your blog probably also knew that too. I am not saying that the points you made are not valid, but perhaps you could have chosen experiments with a bit more questionable outcome. All in all though, I think you did a great job wit your project. I have been truly educated about both the chemical and physical properties of a banana peel.
ReplyDeleteA small side note: you might want to include formal citations instead of links in your text
I find the physical properties of the banana peel to be quite obvious. You could have probably done more fi you had used the entire banana and not just the peel. Other than that your experiments were great.
ReplyDelete