QUE S T b)
1
A supermarket chain advertises that its plastic carrier-
bags are 'environmentally friendly'. These bags are
made from polythene and contain added starch. A
student decided to find out if the claim is true. In the
investigation the student buried a piece of plastic from
the bag in a pot of soil and left it for one month. When
the plastic was dug up there were many small holes in
it.
The drawings show the plastic, as seen through a
microscope,
before and after being buried.
Starch
Hole
3
Plastic buried for 1 month
Plastic before being
buried
a) Explain, as fully as you can, the process that caused
the holes to appear in the plastic.​