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    CM4655 ASSIGNMENT 3:  TORSIONAL PLATE RHEOMETRY

    DUE:  Week 12, Friday, 5pm to me or in my mailbox in 203 Chem Sci (paper) or by email midnight (PDF).  Note that on the WE network you can produce a PDF file by printing the file to the printer  \\printer1\pdf.  The  PDF file will be emailed to you.

    REPORT OBJECTIVE

    For the PDMS polymer in the lab, please measure and report on the true steady shear viscosity at room temperature, as a function of shear rate, as measured with the Bohlin C-VOR torsional parallel plate rheometer in 309A of the Chemical Sciences Building.  Please also report G' and G" as a function of frequency room temperatures.  Check to see if the Cox-Merz rule holds for PDMS.

    If you would like to do a bit more experimentation, also report these quantities at 35 and 50oC; this is optional.

    EXPERIMENTAL NOTES

    1. Follow the rules in the safety handout, in the Bohlin C-VOR operating instructions, and in the CM Department Safety Manual at all times.
    2. If you have questions about operation of the Bohlin, please contact me (fmorriso@mtu.edu; office 7-2050; home 487-9703; cell 1-906-231-0656). If there is an emergency, dial 911.
    3. Do not exceed 60oC.
    4. Explore as wide a range of shear rate as possible; explain in your report what experimental factors limit the range of shear rate that is available to you.
    5. Check your data for reproducibility, and be sure to discuss how you did this in your report.  Include all data in your report; if you believe any data are incorrect, explain this in your report.

    REPORT NOTES

    1. Your report may be as short as you can make, it providing you meet the objective you were given.
    2. Please include a title, your name, an executive summary, an introduction, an experimental section (where you describe the instruments you used and how you handled your materials in the laboratory), a results and discussion section (where you describe what experiments were carried out and how they turned out), a summary, and a reference list.  You may look at articles in the journal Macromolecules for guidance on how these sections are typically structured.
    3. In your discussion section, be sure to mention any experimental difficulties you encountered and any observations you have.  Be sure to describe any changes that occur in the sample between when you load it and when you remove it from the instrument. 
    4. If you have any suggestions for laboratory improvements, please include them in the discussion section of your report.
    5. Please include your raw data in an appendix to the report.  Remember, only put things into the appendix that can be separated from the report.  The report (without appendices) should stand alone.
    6. You may submit your report as a printout delivered to me or to my CM department mailbox in room 203 Chem Sci or as a PDF file emailed to me as late as midnight on the due date.