We’re a nation of chewing gum lovers, spending nearly £300 million a year on the sticky stuff. Sounds a lot? Divide it in half and you’ve got the amount spent each year on cleaning it off our pavements. In Singapore they got so fed up with the problem that they banned the manufacture, sale and use of chewing gum. Now Singaporeans can only chew if they have a medical certificate. Those caught chewing face a hefty fine. Gum smugglers could end up in jail.
Every pavement you walk down has chewing gum stuck to it. Have you ever wondered how we could get rid of chewing gum stuck on pavements?
You might like to …
- compare the stickiness of a range of chewing gums
- see which paving materials it’s easiest to scrape chewing gum off
- make a specially designed rubbish bin for chewing gum
- design and make a device for scraping chewing gum off pavements
- find out how temperature or solvents affects the stickiness of chewing gum and the ease with which it's removed.
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