A Comparative Study of Density and Water Absorption of Bricks with Different Plastic Additives

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Plastics damage our environment. Most of the time, plastics are just scattered around that hinders the flow of water in the drainages that causes a flood. According to Juvinia P. Serafin, these days, plastics are part of Filipinos' daily life. In the city of Naic, they attempted to control the use of plastic especially the plastic straws but got no positive result. Comparing the density and water absorption of bricks with different plastic additives was conducted to (1) determine the density of brick with plastic additives; (2) determine the water absorption of brick with plastic additives; (3) determine ifthere is a significant difference in the density of four treatments; (4) determine if there is a significant difference in the water absorption of four treatments. The study took place at selected houses of the researchers, which were in Mabulo and Labac from June to October 2018.

METHODS

Four treatments with different plastic additives were used in the study. Treatment A: Combination of plastic bottles and plastic curls, treatment B: Plastic curls, treatment C: Plastic bottles and treatment D: Control. The study used an experimental method using a post-test only design that has an experimental group and a control group. To compare the density and water absorption of bricks with different plastic additives, the researchers tested by getting the measurement of the height, width, length and the weight of the bricks.

RESULTS

The results revealed in Treatment A has the mean of 0.0020276. Treatment B shows a mean of the density of 0.0020704. As of Treatment C, it has the mean of 0.002004. And Treatment D has the mean of 0.0020133. In terms of Water Absorptions, the four treatments revealed that Treatment A has an average of 0.03348. Treatment B has 0.08031. Treatment C has an average of 0.02723. While treatment D has an average of 0.03348. Using a one-way ANOVA test, the data showed that there is no significant difference in density among the four treatments; while in water absorption, there was a significant difference.

DISCUSSIONS

The experimentation shows that Treatment D has the highest density. Treatment B has the highest water absorption with an average of 0.08031, which means it does not absorb water quickly. The plastic additives have no significant difference when it comes to brick density, but it has in water absorption.The study focused only on comparing the density and water absorption of bricks with different plastic additives and did not test the compressive strength of the bricks. Thus, the next researchers needed to test the compressive strength of the bricks with different plastic additives.