Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi;
So I'm going to be building the microbial cell I have a few questions
1- a material listed is a Straight-sided plastic (acrylic) storage containers so I went to target to look 4 them and they had none so I got regular plastic ones instead is that ok or do I NEED acrylic plastic? heres what something like I got: http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/07/31 ... 00X500.jpg i think i should get smaller ones even if the regular plastic is ok. Do you know what store i can walk into and buy acrylic plastic containers?
2-Is it ok if i use epoxy instead of acrylic cement or DevCon Plastic Welder?
and....
3-Do you think I will be able to finish by Jan.30th?
Thank You Sooo Much

Hello Jannah Asaad,

1) The containers do not have to be acrylic plastic. Most household waterproof storage containers are okay except for one issue to remember. If you build the salt bridge as described in the project description, the containers need to have vertical walls; otherwise, the connected boxes won't sit level. The vertical-side acrylic boxes can be found at several places online. For example, http://www.containerstore.com/shop?prod ... ylic+boxes.

2) Any waterproof cement that sticks to your materials should be okay.

3) It seems like there are three phases to this experiment: getting the materials, constructing the cell, and running the experiment. The first two parts can be done in time if you find what you need and work hard. The project description suggests that you run the experiment for 30 days. Clearly you won't have time for that. In any case, you will need to get it together and running ASAP so you'll have time to see how it works over at least a few days.

Good luck, WW