At what temperature pet plastic melts
Do you want to test the properties of water, using only two glasses and some hot and cold water? For this, we propose a simple experiment in which you will discover how the water in a glass can “fly”. For this experiment you only need some hot and cold water, some coloring and a piece of plastic. Let’s start!
Performing this experiment to observe how the density of hot and cold water behaves is very simple. And in a matter of minutes, you’ll be surprised by the properties of hot and cold water.
When you have it ready, you are ready for the hot and cold water experiment. Take the plastic and place it on top of the glass of cold water. Then, making a vacuum, turn it upside down and place it on top of the hot water glass. With great care, remove the plastic so that both waters are united.
When you go removing the plastic you will see that both liquids will be united. What happens is that hot water is less dense than cold water. Therefore, the hot water tends to rise and the cold water ends up below it.
It is bad to drink water in a plastic cup
It is an everyday image that we have seen a thousand times: a bottle of water (empty, of course) that twists and melts at high temperatures. We often encounter a series of physical or chemical phenomena that, because they are commonplace, often go unnoticed. For example, have you ever stopped to think why some polymeric materials, such as the polyethylene in plastic bags or rubber, are flexible, while others, such as PVC or methacrylate, are rigid? (I use the term ‘polymeric materials’ and not ‘plastics’ because, although all plastics are polymers, other polymers are not plastics, as is the case with rubber or natural products such as cellulose or proteins).
The reason lies in a physical quantity called glass transition which, although not exclusive to these materials, is typical of them due to their peculiar internal structure. The glass transition is the change from a flexible to a rigid state, or vice versa. It is a phenomenon associated with amorphous or glassy solids, hence its name, and does not occur in crystalline materials. Let us see why.
How to melt plastic without burning it
Although the responsible organizations tell us that there is no problem, we agree with Professor Nicolás Olea (pioneer researcher on this subject): we must consider the problem of toxic accumulation and their synergy when they are inside our body (the whole problem of plastics in Todos comemos plásticos, Cocina sin plásticos and ¿Sononon los plásticos reciclables, biodegradables o compostables?
We have become containers of hundreds of toxic substances, which accumulate in our fat and organs and when they are mixed interacting in an organic environment, they enhance their effects unsuspectedly. Therefore, as a matter of prudence, we should avoid exposure to toxins as much as possible and, of course, the contact of plastics with bisphenol A with food, whenever possible.
We know it is difficult. We find plastics everywhere and while we do not want to use them in our kitchen, or at least avoid them whenever possible, we do not know if a food has had contact with plastics before reaching us nor do we know the contamination that each contact may involve.
At what temperature does the plastic in bottles melt?
The study was done with mice and the initial objective was to demonstrate how negative BPA is for them. Their surprise was that, when they were put in contact with alternative plastic materials, the effects were almost as harmful. These substitutes affected the reproduction of these animals in the same way.
A good way to avoid using plastic to heat food is to replace our plastic lunch tupperware we take to work with a glass one. We will have to carry a little more weight in our bag or backpack, but it will be worth it.
Sometimes, however, we find foods that are only sold in plastic wrapping in the supermarket. In that case, we can take them out of that packaging and transfer them to a plate or a glass, porcelain or ceramic container. And from there to the microwave, while we throw the plastic into the yellow container.