Dimensional stability of everyday items?

[Sukichan]

I want to find out how long ordinary items lasts for before it breaks down naturally: 1) supermarket trolley, 2) coke can 3) light bulb, 4) plastic bottle, 5) computer, 6) TV, 7) clothes, paper envelop.

This is in relation to changes in moisture, heat, weather, etc as a result of the passing of time - not recycling or any additional manipulations.

I would be ever so grateful if anyone any ideas or where I can look for the answers?

Thanks!

[PhilipPierce]

Hi Sukichan,

Could you please be a little more specific on what you want to find out. It sounds very interesting, but it would be hard to do an indepth study of all of the different items that you listed.

I would recommend focusing on either a specific item such as light bulbs. Then, you would need to find out what you want to test, such as the effect of heat, weather, and etc. on the bulb.

In short, you might narrow down your project into a few things that you can test so you can have a more detailed project instead of trying to do a lot of different things. I tried to do too many things this year on my project, and it made it very difficult and hard to do, so the more specific you are the better.

You also might want to look at https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... tion.shtml . This will also give you some help. Please let us know what specific item you want to test and why and we will be more than happy to help.

Best of luck,
Philip

[Sukichan]

Hi Philip,

Thanks for your response. I’m after some estimations in time for each of the items, ie. 1,000,000 years, 5,000 years etc. I wonder if anyone might have some suggestions from looking at the materials in which the items are made of? ie, on average paper lasts for x number of years, and zinc coated steel y number of years, glass …

What interests me is that these items are very common, we come across them daily in our lives, yet many of these items will out live us. I wanted to see in relation to our own life span, what are the life spans of these familiar items. Does a supermarket trolley remain a trolley FOREVER?

This isn’t a science project but an art one! I wonder if there are any scientists out there who might be able to point me in the right direction? I myself wouldn’t be conducting the research, but would like to know if anyone has done any research into the amount of time it takes these materials to change/disintegrate, naturally?

Thank you!

Suki

[PhilipPierce]

Hello Sukichan,

Thanks for making everything clearer. I tried googling degeneration of paper/etc. and didn't have much luck.

We can't do all of the research for you, but we can help you with a specific part that you are having trouble on. http://www.sciencebuddies.com/mentoring ... blio.shtml will help give you some ideas on how to search the internet and to find information. You might read through this and see if you can do some searches and answer your question.

Any search engine will work, but I have had the most success with Google and Google Scholar. Good luck with your research, and please let us know how it goes.

Philip

[geoffbruton]

Good morning, Suki,

This is a very interesting question! Unsurprisingly, many other people have wondered the same thing - and not just those involved in the manufacturing of these items.

In my line of work (forensic science) what remains in the ground following burial can be extremely important - though we are not usually looking for something that may have been buried thousands of years ago!

However, groups of archaeologists *have* been looking into the decomposition of different types of materials in order to try and reconstruct what life was like in the past, based upon what they dig up. Similarly, people like yourself are also wondering what will we find in future excavations - what will decompose quickly, and what may be around thousands of years from now.

I tried a slightly different set of search parameters in Google, and came up with some very interesting websites that may help you focus in on what you would like to investigate. Try searching for: "time, decomposition, archaeology". In addition to these search parameters, try including each of the different materials you wanted to research, one at a time. If some things don't work, e.g. light bulbs, try a search involving a more generic word, such as 'glass'. This should do the trick!

Here are a couple of great sites to start you off:

http://datamonster.sbs.arizona.edu/IGER ... pexerc.php
http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/school ... scov04.htm

Please be aware that there are an awful lot of variables involved in the decomposition of different materials - so you will need to be very specific in what you choose to include in your work.

Good luck, and please keep us informed of your progress.
Best wishes,
Geoff.