Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, I really need help with my science project.
My project is testing what material will remove gum from hair the best.
I have done my research, and I still do not know what unit of measurement I will use. It is too late to change my project.
PLEASE HELP!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Hello. This is an interesting question I'm sure many folks are interested in.

Is it too late to change your topic? That all depends on when your deadline is or whether your teacher will allow it. Why do you want to change your topic?

For your unit of measurement.
- I am not an expert in this area, but I would recommend starting with an amount that saturates the hair surrounding the gum. Beyond that, I'm guessing using more won't make a difference. Use less than that, and you risk it not being enough. Be sure to log the amount for each material used and why you used that amount.
- Be sure to keep the units of measurement for each material the same between trials
- Once you find out the optimal material, a follow-on project could be to experiment with different units of measurement to find the minimum or ideal amount required to do the job (think cost and resource savings).

I hope this helps. Certainly write back if you have further questions.
Good luck!

Hi Anonymous2111,

I agree with dcnick96. This is a great topic and there's no need to change it.

However, you have realized the challenge of how to measure the results and this will be key to successfully completing this project. I have some suggestions.

First, you need to find a good source of hair samples. Preferably samples that are similar and are not attached to someone's head.

Chewing gum is composed of poly vinyl acetate, elastomers, glycerin, softening agents, carbonates, flavoring agents, sugars or sugar substitutes, and coloring agents. After it is chewed, what components would be left for testing?

1. Laboratory analysis. One method for analyzing chewing gum is using a technique called thermogravimetric analysis. You could try contacting Perkin Elmer, the company that makes this equipment and ask if there is a local laboratory that has this equipment. Or, if there is a local chewing gum company, contact them and ask if they have the equipment. Or, do some research and find a local testing lab that can do this type of testing. Once you locate a suitable lab, you will need to ask if they can help you with the analysis.

http://www.perkinelmer.com/PDFs/downloa ... ingGum.pdf

Even if it is not possible for you to access the equipment for this testing, do include background information on this subject in your paper and explain how it works. Your teacher will give you credit for at least knowing what to do.

2. Weight. Do you have access to an analytical balance and a drying oven? If so, you can probably devise a method for drying and weighing the hair samples before and after adding the gum; then try the gun removal method and weigh the sample again after drying it gently. You will need to include controls for each gum removal method to make sure the method itself does not cause weight gain or loss. Run samples in duplicate, and if possible, in triplicate.

3. Photo. You can also photograph results before and after gum removal. This would not be quantitative, but would provide a visual record of the results. And perhaps you could devise a scale to rate the effectiveness of each gum removal technique so you can graph the results.

I hope this helps. Do let us know if you have any questions.


Donna Hardy

It seems like an interesting topic, but I wanted to change it because it seemed extremely difficult to test the project and measure the results.

How/where can you find good hair samples? I also have a problem of how the gum will be removed.

Thanks again!

Hi Anonymous2111,

This is a unique project idea and definitely worth pursuing. You do have some challenges in getting materials to test and in conducting the experiment, but just take one thing at a time and you'll have a great project.

The standard method for removing gum from hair is to use peanut buffer or a vegetable oil. You can do an internet search on "how to remove gum from hair" : to get more details and find out if there are any other recommendations.

For a science project you want to look for a better way to do this. . To come up with ideas for an alternative method, you need to do some background research to find out what gum is composed of. Then you need to do more research to find out what the components of gum will dissolve in. While you are searching, find out what hair is composed of and why gum sticks to it; you will also need to make sure that any new treatment you devise will not damage hair or be toxic to humans. Maybe you will find a couple of ideas to try. This is really a chemistry project.

Calculate how many samples you will need. It will be essential to run your experiment in duplicate and include controls (negative control-no gum; positive control-gum with no treatment.

Next, you could do a preliminary experiment to compare how fast peanut butter, oil, and your new idea(s) will soften or dissolve the gum. Then, finally you could do an experiment with hair to see if your new methods will remove gum from hair. .

To obtain hair samples, talk to a local beauty or barber shop and ask if you can get some hair samples from the floor. Ideally, you want locks of hair that can be secured in a bundle and long enough to work with. Most people only get an inch or two cut off at a time, so it might take a while to get suitable samples. Or, you might have to get a long-haired dog or cat donate some samples. Or, you might have to invent an method to work with bits of hair. It would be best if all of your samples were as similar as possible. The hair samples should be one of your controlled parameters. Check with your teacher and get approval for your project before you begin.

I thought of another possible way you could measure results. Perhaps you could compare the time that it takes a treatment to remove gum. If peanut butter takes 2 minutes, maybe your new proposed method would take less time. Time is something you can measure and graph. If you could do two difference measurements, time and weight, for example, the project would be even better.

Does this give you some ideas about what you can do?


Donna Hardy

Hi,

You have not had a class in chemistry yet, so I will help explain the chemistry of your project.

You should be familiar with the periodic table, however. Can you find carbon, hydrogen? These are important elements for your project. Let me know if you have not seen a periodic table before.

Here's some background information on chewing gum. Unfortunately, it mentions that the actual components used in chewing gum are proprietary, so we won't know exactly what gum is made from. . The base ingredients are a "gum base" that may contain elastomers, polymers, resins, and paraffin. They may contain -butadiene rubber or polyethylene, with a bit of natural latex.

http://www.aquimicadascoisas.org/en/?ep ... hewing-gum

Here's a link to information about butadiene, which is a monomer that is used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber. Notice that the molecule contains only carbon and hydrogen ions and there are double bonds in the molecule.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,3-Butadiene

Polyethylene is a polymer that is a long chain of carbon and hydrogen atoms with single bonds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene

Paraffin is a hydrocarbon composed of a chain of 20-40 carbon atoms with single bonds and hydrogen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_wax

Natural latex is also a polymer composed of a long chain of a monomer called isoprene; it contains carbon and hydrogen with some double bonds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin_wax

So chewing gum is composed of a polymers of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Molecules with all carbon and hydrogen atoms are described as hydrophobic because they repel water and are not water soluble.

Next, let's check to see what type of solvent will dissolve these molecules. I would expect that hydrophilic solvents like water and alcohols would not work, and that non-polar solvents would be the best choice.

The reference for polyethylene above mentions that polyethylene is resistant to strong acids, bases, gentle oxidants and reducing agents. PE can be dissolved at elevated temperatures in aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene, xylene, trichhloroethane, or trichlorobenzene. Unfortunately all of these chemicals are highly toxic.

Here's a website that lists possible solvents for wax (paraffin) removal. These solvents are all toxic as well.
petroleum condensate
pentane, butane
xylene, toluene (aliphatic hydrocarbons)
carbon disulfide
terpenes
chlorinated hydrocarbons
https://paraffinproject.wikispaces.com/ ... +Solutions

Here's a list of different solvents based on polarity (non-polar to polar) and the references we have found indicate that the top solvents (in gray) are the non-polar solvents and these should all work to dissolve chewing gum. Unfortunately, they are all toxic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvent

In my next post, I'll describe the chemistry of peanut butter and vegetable oil and also of hair. You need to understand how vegetable oil works and why gum sticks to hair. Please review the information in the post and let me know if you have any questions so far.

Donna

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!
I still need to know how I will test using time. It is unreliable to remove it with my hands, so could you give me ways I could perform my experiment?
Thanks again!

Hi,

Next you need to know about the chemistry of peanut butter and vegetable oil.

Peanut butter is composed of about 50% fat, 20% carbohydrate (sugar and starch) and 25 % protein.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_butter

The peanut oil is probably the primary molecule that is interacting with the gum and it is composed of triglycerides. Here is a website that shows the structure of the base molecule, glycerol and fatty acids, which combine with the glycerol. The fatty acids in peanut oil either have chains of 16 or 18 carbons.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitnes ... cids1.html

Look at the structure of the triglycerides and you will see mostly carbon and hydrogen atoms along with 6 oxygen atoms. Since the molecule contains mostly carbon and hydrogen, it is hydrophobic.

Other vegetable oils that have been used for gum removal also have a similar structure.

Molecules that are hydrophobic have an affinity for similar molecules. The organic solvents that will dissolve gum are also hydrophobic.

So, for your science fair project, you need something that is hydrophobic and not toxic, Can you think of anything that is similar to peanut oil or peanut butter? Anything that floats on water? For your project, you want to compare results of no treatment, peanut buffer, and whatever your new method is. Can you think of anything else to try?

I have another idea about how to measure results, but you will have to do some more research on the topic. Anything that will remove gum from hair will change the gum to make it softer and loosen it from the hair. So there should be a difference in the strength of a freshly chewed piece of gum and one that has been soaked in peanut oil. If you can measure that difference, you will have a method to conduct your experiment.

There is a method for testing gel strength that is used for gelatin called the Bloom test that is based on the measure of force required to depress a defined area of the sample by 4 mm. Here is a link to a source that contains the procedure. Refer to page 7.

http://www.gelatin-gmia.com/images/GMIA ... d_2013.pdf

Here is a YouTube video on Bloom testing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bYIow9pc6M

You might be able to adapt this test for your project. You would need some weights (2 or 3) that would compress the gum a measurable distance. Freshly chewed gum should be stronger and more resistant to compression compared to peanut butter treated gum.

Why don't you do a preliminary trial run today and see if you can get this idea to work well enough for you to get measurable results? If it does work, then you can plan your definitive experiment.

Let me know what happens.

Donna

Hi Anonymous 2111,

Here is some more chemistry. You need to know why chewing gum sticks to hair. You already know that gum is made of hydrophobic molecules and that the solvents that will dissolve gun are hydrophobic, so can you guess what characteristic gum has?

Here is a website that describes the composition of hair; The main component of hair is a protein called keratin. Proteins are biomolecules that are made of long chains of amino acids and contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, sulfur and nitrogen. Hair and fingernails are composed of keratin.

Hi http://www.hair-science.com/_int/_en/to ... -chemistry

Here is an article on keratin and it confirms that keratin is a hydrophobic protein. There is lots of other information in this article so try to read and understand it. It's good background information for your project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin

So gum interacts with hair by hydrophobic interaction. You need to find a method that will disrupt the hydrophobic attraction between the two substances.

I had another idea on how to measure your results. Instead of trying to measure the distance that a certain force compresses the gum, maybe you could carefully put a weight (like a brick) on the pieces of gum and measure the thickness or perhaps calculate the area of the of the compressed gum. Have you tried any preliminary experiment to help decide what will work?

Here's a link for an interesting article. You can file this away for next year's project; maybe you can invent a better gum that does not stick to hair.

http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news ... ewing-gum/

Please refer to the project guide on this website. You are at the beginning of your project, doing the background research. Why is your project question? This will help you design the details of the experiment. Read through this carefully so you will know where you are going.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

Here's another suggestion. For your experiment, I assume you will picking your favorite gum. The brand of gum used will be one of your controlled parameters, and you will need lots of it for this project. Why don't you look up the manufacturer of the gum you will be using and contact them and ask what the composition of the gum is. We already know you probably won't get much information because this information is proprietary, but maybe you could get some general information about the composition. Also ask if they know of a good method of measuring the quantity of gum. And, ask if they can send you samples of the product to use for your project. You should offer to send your results when they are available. It certainly won't hurt to ask for assistance.


Donna Hardy

Thank you so much!
I'll try to do some more work by myself, and I'll post again if I need help.

Hi Anonymous 2111,

Here is a website that has a comprehensive list of substances that can be used to remove gum from hair. I would not recommend using the WD-40 because this product is flammable and more toxic compared to the other household items.

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Gum-Out-of-Your-Hair

Do let us know if you have any other questions. Good luck!



Donna

Hello again!
My research does not tell me which type of fat (polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, saturated) is best for removing chewing gum from hair.
Can you please help?
Thank you!

Hi Anonymous 2111,

It's possible that no one has done an experiment comparing polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fat for gum removal. Your background research should have shown that substances that can interact with the gum molecules will soften the gum and allow removal.

There is very little chemical difference between these fats; it just a difference of one or two double bonds compared to single bonds. I don't know if it would be possible to measure the difference between these types of fats with your application.

It might be interesting to compare a short chain saturated fat like butter (4 carbon chain) with a long chain triglyceride like lard(18 carbon chain). Most oils contain a mixture of fatty acids.

Have you figured out a way to measure gum removal yet? What have you tried? My suggestions had been related to measuring the difference in rigidity or softness of the gum.


Donna