i did a lab using copper sulfate solution to submerge certain metals into to observe how they would react, and plastic was one of them. It didnt react at all over the course of two days, and i need to know why. thank you
What kind of plastic? Plastics are polymers. Polymers are typically long strands of hydrocarbons (obviously there are various formulations). Polypropylene (yougurt containers, milk jugs) are common types... as are polystyrenes (cheap plastic glasses). Polymers are not typically reactive as there are not reactive sites like metals have. But there are definitely polymer reactions that can occur as well as incompatibilities with some materials. Draw out the structure and think about how it could react, look for those pesky valence electrons like metals have when they disassociate in water.
