Rubber Band Thermodynamics

       This experiment will give you the opportunity to learn more about polymers and some of their thermodynamic properties, specifically rubber, cross-linked polyisoprene.  In this experiment you will measure, as a function of temperatue, the forces required to stretch a rubber band to different lengths.  This data will be used to calculate the dependence of energy and entropy of the rubber band on its length.  The theoretical background, materials and chemicals, experimental procedure, data, calculations, and references for this experiment are all described in detail in the MS Word document Rubber Band Thermodynamics.

Safety

Other than a potential electrical hazard associated with heating the water baths, there are no particular safety precautions that you need to be aware in this lab.