Discussion
In my hypothesis, I stated that if the amount of oil absorbed and contained is dependant on the materials, then ten cotton balls, one sponge, twenty-five mL of dish soap and one spoon will absorb 70% of the oil and contain 90% of the oil. The hypothesis was, however, proved incorrect. Throughout the lab, our group cleaned up almost all of the crude oil. Almost 90% of crude oil was contained and 95% was absorbed. This was unexpected but proved the materials that we have chosen were highly effective.
Through out the lab, our group simulated an oil spill clean up by pouring 50 mL of crude oil in to a water basin that was originally filled with tap water. Then we used four materials of our choice, in which my group chose 25 mL of dish soap, one sponge, one spoon, and ten cotton balls. The independent variables were the four materials that we used to clean the crude oil (25 mL of dish soap, one sponge, one spoon, and ten cotton balls.) Since different materials could absorb and contain different amounts of crude oil, the amount and the percentage of oil that were contained, absorbed, and cleaned up by each material was the dependent material. There were a lot of controlled variables. They were the amount, density, and temperature of oil and water, quantity of materials used, the type of oil, and the size of the water basin. Our variables were considered, identified, and controlled because we used every item carefully.
When we poured the crude oil in to the water basin, the crude oil automatically floated on to the top of the water basin. This is because oil is denser than water, that's why the crude oil floated on top of the water. As stated before, different materials have different abilities to absorb and contain the oil. Based on our group's results, the spoon was the best at containing. The spoon could scoop up 90% of the crude oil but it contained 0% of crude oil because the spoon is made out of plastic. As for absorbing, the sponge was definitely the most effective. The sponge soaks up the soap just by dipping it in to the water basin. The sponge absorbed 85% of the crude oil. However, it was not effective at all for containing. It only contained around 10% of the oil because the crude oil can't really stay in it. As for the cotton balls, it contained 60% of crude oil and absorbed 75% of crude oil. The cotton balls were fairly effective for both absorbing and containing. Lastly, the dish soap, it contained 70% of crude oil. Unfortunately, it absorbed 0% of crude oil. As a result, we were able to contain 90% of the crude oil, and absorb 95% of the crude oil. Which was a lot more than what our group has expected.
Overall, he experiment was fairly successful. Our group absorbed a lot more than what we have expected. However, we could clearly identify at least one problem. That was that we were scooping out a lot more water than oil using the spoon. This was a problem because even though we scooped up around 25 mL of crude oil, we wasted around 50 mL of water! I couldn't even imagine how much water we could have wasted if we used this technology to a oil spilled ocean! Other than this, there were no more problems. However, if we were to do this experiment again, I would try to scoop up less water with the spoon.
The followings are some of the resources that I used.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1305/S00239/public-input-sought-on-review-of-the-tier-two-oil-spill-plan.htm
Through out the lab, our group simulated an oil spill clean up by pouring 50 mL of crude oil in to a water basin that was originally filled with tap water. Then we used four materials of our choice, in which my group chose 25 mL of dish soap, one sponge, one spoon, and ten cotton balls. The independent variables were the four materials that we used to clean the crude oil (25 mL of dish soap, one sponge, one spoon, and ten cotton balls.) Since different materials could absorb and contain different amounts of crude oil, the amount and the percentage of oil that were contained, absorbed, and cleaned up by each material was the dependent material. There were a lot of controlled variables. They were the amount, density, and temperature of oil and water, quantity of materials used, the type of oil, and the size of the water basin. Our variables were considered, identified, and controlled because we used every item carefully.
When we poured the crude oil in to the water basin, the crude oil automatically floated on to the top of the water basin. This is because oil is denser than water, that's why the crude oil floated on top of the water. As stated before, different materials have different abilities to absorb and contain the oil. Based on our group's results, the spoon was the best at containing. The spoon could scoop up 90% of the crude oil but it contained 0% of crude oil because the spoon is made out of plastic. As for absorbing, the sponge was definitely the most effective. The sponge soaks up the soap just by dipping it in to the water basin. The sponge absorbed 85% of the crude oil. However, it was not effective at all for containing. It only contained around 10% of the oil because the crude oil can't really stay in it. As for the cotton balls, it contained 60% of crude oil and absorbed 75% of crude oil. The cotton balls were fairly effective for both absorbing and containing. Lastly, the dish soap, it contained 70% of crude oil. Unfortunately, it absorbed 0% of crude oil. As a result, we were able to contain 90% of the crude oil, and absorb 95% of the crude oil. Which was a lot more than what our group has expected.
Overall, he experiment was fairly successful. Our group absorbed a lot more than what we have expected. However, we could clearly identify at least one problem. That was that we were scooping out a lot more water than oil using the spoon. This was a problem because even though we scooped up around 25 mL of crude oil, we wasted around 50 mL of water! I couldn't even imagine how much water we could have wasted if we used this technology to a oil spilled ocean! Other than this, there were no more problems. However, if we were to do this experiment again, I would try to scoop up less water with the spoon.
The followings are some of the resources that I used.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1305/S00239/public-input-sought-on-review-of-the-tier-two-oil-spill-plan.htm