Matthew Ong

112891
Determination of the Molecular Weight of Polystyrene using Ubbelhode
Viscometer

Introduction
The use of Ubbelhode viscometer does not only enable us to gain insight in
the viscosity of a certain substance, but it can also give us an idea of what the
molecular weight of that substance is. The Mark-Houwink relationship relates the
viscosity to the molecular weight of the substance. Its given by the equation [ ] =
KMa
The first term [ ] is then related to the time values obtained from the Ubbelhode
viscometer. The Ubbelhode viscometer measures the time it takes for a liquid to
reach a marker to another marker. The thing about this is that it needs other
values to compare it with for meaningful data. This enables us to get an idea of the
value for the viscosity and in turn lead us to the molecular weight of the
substance. Using [ ] = sp/c = 0 when sp = (t-t0)/t0, we are able to compute
everything with ease. In this experiment, we use the polystyrene synthesized in
our previous experiment using emulsion polymerization. The sample we got was of
high molecular weight, and so we expect it to be of relatively higher viscosity
compared to others.

Materials
The materials used in this experiment were very simple. We made use of an
electronic balance to obtain measurements of mass for our polystyrene sample.
Three small beakers were used for dilution of the solution. The ubbelhode
viscometer was used for the determination of viscosity and a rubber suction bulb
was used to suck up the solution in the said viscometer. Reagents used were the
polystyrene we previously synthesized and toluene as the solvent.
Below is a table of all reagents and materials used.
Apparatus:

Reagents:

Electronic Balance
Three beakers
Ubbelhode viscometer
Rubber suction bulb
Graduated Cylinder

Polystyrene (0.1 g)
Toluene (10 ml)

Procedure
The first thing we did was to clean the viscometer using acetone and
toluene. We then made initial measurements for a pure toluene solution,
measuring the time it took for the toluene to reach one marker from the other. We
obtained 0.1 g of the polystyrene we synthesized previously using emulsion
polymerization and dissolved it in 10 ml toluene. Dissolving proved to be difficult
but will be discussed in the discussions portion. We did three trials. We then added
10 ml of toluene to the solution and did three trials again. We added increments of
10 ml toluene until we had 0.1 g of polystyrene in 40 ml toluene and did three
trials for each concentration and recorded all data.

Results and Discussion

First Id like to discuss the challenges we faced during this experiment. One
of the things that proved difficult for us was accurately measuring the time it took
for the liquid to reach one marker from the other. We were not given any proper
stopwatches to do this and so had to use a smart phone for timing. Besides this,
we found that this type of method actually opens up the probability for human
error. Which is I guess why we were required to have three readings per
concentration of the solution. Another challenge that proved difficult for us was
dissolving the polystyrene we previously synthesized with emulsion polymerization
in the toluene. Our polystyrene sample was of high molecular weight and was not
in powder form so it took us a while to actually dissolve the chunk of polystyrene.
After we had put an actual dent on the 0.1g sample, we discovered that the initial
toluene we used was contaminated and so we had to do the initial measurements
for the pure toluene and had to dissolve another 0.1g of polystyrene using a new
batch of toluene. Once we had dissolved the polystyrene in the toluene, it was time
for the big part of the experiment. The results will be discussed below.
Results:
For the results, I will be showing all measurements for all trials for all
concentration.

Pure Toluene
Trial
1
2
3
Average

Time (s)
7.32
6.93
7.04
7.1

0.1 g Polystyrene in 10ml Toluene

Trial
1
2
3
Average

Time (s)
15.5
16.02
15.64
15.72

0.1 g Polystyrene in 20ml Toluene

Trial
1
2
3
Average

Time (s)
8.32
8.36
8.37
8.35

0.1 g Polystyrene in 30ml Toluene

Trial
1
2
3
Average

Time (s)
7.48
7.56
7.50
7.51

0.1 g Polystyrene in 40ml Toluene

Trial
1
2
3
Average

Time (s)
7.13
7.19
7.29
7.20

Below is the graph of Nsp/concentration vs. concentration to be able to calculate

for viscosity.

1.2
1.01

1
0.8
Nsp

0.6
0.4

0.3

0.2
0
0.2

0.05

0.15

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

Concetration (%)

We can compute for the viscosity by getting the y-intercept of this plot,
which comes out to be .50. The goal of this experiment is to get the molecular
weight of the polymer. We do this by using the Mark-Houwink equation that was
discussed earlier in the introduction. Using the values of K and a for polystyrene in
toluene we obtained from online sources and will be cited later (K=0.00011, a=
0.725) we can compute for the molecular weight. The molecular weight we obtain
is undefined because the intrinsic viscosity obtained is a negative number. This is a
very unusual result and quite uncommon, but further search of sources show that a
negative intrinsic viscosity result is reproducible.
Answers to Questions:
1. Based on HagenPoiseuille discuss how the dimension of the viscometer will
have an impact on
the viscosity of its content.
- The Hagen-Poiseuille relates pressure drop of a liquid flowing in a capillary tube.
The dimension of the viscometer can actually lead to more turbulent flow for tubes
that are larger relative to the ones being used in the lab which ultimately leads to
larger pressure drops.
2. Compare the merits and demerits of capillary viscometer and rotational
viscometer
- One of the biggest differences between the two is that capillary viscometer needs
some reference to compare data with. For example in this experiment, we needed
to obtain values for pure toluene before obtaining values for solutions with
polystyrene. Without reference values, data obtained will not amount to anything
where as in rotational viscometer, it only needs one sample and does not need
anything to compare it with.

3. If PS is crosslinked, can you determine molecular weight of this product using

capillary
viscometer? Why/Why not?

- No we cannot use the capillary viscometer mainly because if the polystyrene is

crosslinked, we will not be able to dissolve the polystyrene in the toluene.
Crosslinking makes solubilizing impossible.

References:
1.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HagenPoiseuille_equation
2.) http://www.ampolymer.com/Mark-HouwinkParameters.html
3.) http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/toluene