Semester 3 week 4

Grinding is not as bad as it seems, the process for grinding has proven to be problematic. The first week with the new grinder methods were being tested and we have selected the best way to grind. Now we must look at cross-contamination and the clean up process. Sweeping our immediate area allows for us to start with a clean slate free of other debris. As we grind the friction between the file and the plastics causes for the plastic sample to become statically charged, this charge causes the sample to want to stick to any surface it comes near, clothes, the floor the vice holding the plastic and the clean up equipment. This week I created my first sample with the grinder in 30 minutes, the process is as follows:
1) Sweep the floor to clear debris from other uses of the lab.
2) Grind the plastic until sample size looks to be enough.
3) Vacuum the sample off the floor and move into beaker labeled for that sample.
4) Sweep the remaining plastic to be disposed of due to cross contamination in the broom.
These steps are our way of limiting cross contamination. being careful to collect enough of a sample before moving on as to not need to continuously change between the sample being ground.
My collection sample for the 30 minutes of grinding in week 4 are 31.94 grams, compared to several hours of grinding by hand to attain only a sample of 1.08 grams.

Sample 1(Left side) took several hours to attain through the process of grinding with hand tools
Sample 2(Right side) took 30 minutes to attain through the process of grinding with power tools