Gabrielle Cruz

December 18, 2015

Sludge Report
Chemistry
Executive Summary
The e-waste recycling plant should be allowed to set up in Pawtucket, but only under certain
circumstances. Most of the components in our sludge, such as nickel, iron and mineral oil have toxic properties
but arent so toxic that they cant be released into the river. Although, isopropyl alcohol is a three out of three
for flammability and a two out of three for health hazard, which could possibly be an issue for the river and its
organisms. In addition, we found that all of the components in our sludge are recyclable but arent typically
recycled. This includes sand, iron, water and isopropyl alcohol. Mineral oil and nickel on the other hand, are
both recyclable and commonly recycled. Therefore, these two components should not be released into the river.
If the e-waste recycling plant could find a way to possibly remove isopropyl alcohol, nickel, and mineral oil
from the sludge, then they should be allowed to set up in Pawtucket and dump the sludge into the Blackstone
River.
Methods
We started off by separating the liquids from the solids by using a coffee filter. By doing so we actually
separated our liquids because one of our liquids was oily and too thick to pass through the filter. We put the oily
liquid into a separate beaker than the other liquid(s). Then, we put our solids into one of the petri dishes, which
had a sand like solid and two metal balls. The sand-like solid was left to dry overnight and was separated into
magnetic and non-magnetic by simply running a magnet over the substance. We performed the distillation lab
on the non-oily liquids and for each of the solids, we performed a density lab. A density lab was also used on the
oily liquid. In the end, we were able to identify six components in our sludge.
Table
Component
Nickel

Density
8.91 g/cm3

Sand

2.3 g/cm3

Iron

7.87 g/cm3

Water
Isopropyl
Alcohol

1.00 g/mL
0.79 g/mL

Solubility
not soluble
in water
not soluble
in water
not soluble
in water
solute
solute

Mineral Oil

0.80 g/mL

solute

Polarity
N/A

Color
silvery

Magnetic?
Yes

N/A

light brown

No

N/A

dark gray

Yes

polar
polar and
nonpolar
characteristi
cs
non-polar

colorless
colorless

No
No

colorless

No

Findings
One of the unknown components from our sludge is nickel. We calculated a density of 7.5 g/cm3 for the
solid, which is relatively close to nickel's density of 8.91 g/cm3. The density is actually closest to irons density
of 7.87 g/cm3, but the metal did not react to water and oxygen as iron would have. Therefore we were able to
cancel out the chances of it being iron. Also, the solid from our sludge is both magnetic and silver exactly like
nickel. This makes it easier to conclude that the two metal balls in our sludge are, in fact, nickel.

Another solid we identified in our sludge is iron. The metal was a dark gray color when we first
separated it from the liquids and other solids. My group performed the density lab on the metal and found a
density of 4.96 g/cm3. Although this density is not close to the density of iron, 7.87 g/cm3, the metal corroded
when it was exposed to water and oxygen. We also found that the metal is magnetic. Iron is dark gray in color,
magnetic and rusts when exposed to water and oxygen, therefore we concluded that this metal was iron.
One other component found in our sludge is water. Through the distillation lab, we found that the average
boiling point of that specific liquid is 99.7 degrees celsius. Water has a boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius,
which helps support our claim. As well as having close boiling points, the liquid was both clear and had no
scent just like water. We then concluded that our sludge had water in it.
In addition, we found that our sludge contained rubbing alcohol. We performed a distillation lab, and found
that the boiling point average of this liquid was 88.4 degrees Celsius. This boiling point is closest to the boiling
point of isopropyl alcohol which is 82 degrees Celsius. Also, the liquid was both clear and had a faint scent
similar to rubbing alcohol. Therefore, my group deduced that our sludge contained isopropyl alcohol.
We found that another component in our sludge is mineral oil. We calculated the density of this particular
liquid because it was an oil and it would take an excessive amount of time to boil it off. The density we found is
0.84 g/cm3. Mineral oil's density was closest to the one we found, with a density of 0.80 g/cm3. Both the liquid
in our sludge and mineral oil is thick and clear. My group and I concluded that the liquid was mineral oil based
on the information we found.
Lastly, we found that our sludge also contained sand. We measured the density of the solid and found
that it had a density of 2.08 g/cm3. Sand has a density of 2.3 g/cm3, which is relatively close to the density we
found of the solid. The solid looked a lot like sand, having a light brown color with small rocks in it. It was not
magnetic, wasnt soluble in the liquids from our sludge, and did not react to the exposure to water. We decided
that our sludge had sand in it as well.
Rubric
Sludge Analysis (Lab Work)
Component of Identified? (5 points each)
Sludge

Total

/35

Written Report
Executive Summary
Claim (5 points)

Total
Evidence (5 points)

Reasoning (5 points)

Methods (Clearly Described)

Table (Shows characteristic chemical and physical properties)
Findings (CER Paragraphs)
Identified
Claim (2
Qualitative
Quantitative
Component
points)
Evidence? (2
Evidence? (2
points)
points)

/15
/5
/5
Reasoning (2
points)

Water

Written Report Total

/48
/73