Investigatory Project Group No. 2 1 – Sapphire

Class Numbers 9 & 29

Soil Porosity and Pollutant Viscosity (2nd Quarter Project)

Problem: Does soil porosity and pollutant viscosity affect the absorbency of the soil to

pollutant?

Hypotheses:

We think that if the soil is with less porosity then it is the most absorbent.

We think that if the pollutant is more viscous then it is more absorbent.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

The filter used Amount of pollutants (250 ml) Amount of soil filtered (250 mg) Number of trials on 1 soil type with 1 kind of pollutant Temperature of pollutants (21°C )

The manipulated variable was the type of soil filtered and the kind of pollutant being filtered. Each kind of soil (silt, sand, loam and clay) filtered each kind of pollutant (oil, gas) three times.

The responding variable was the amount of pollutants that filtered through the 250 mg of soil.

MATERIALS

QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION

1  Plastic Filter

750mL Sand, Clay

750mL Oil, Gasoline

30 (16oz) plastic cups

500mL Graduated Cylinder

1 Scratch Paper

1  Organized Table

1  Stop Watch or watch with a second hand 

PROCEDURES

1.) Create a clean and organized area near a working sink or tub of water. 2.) Place 1 plastic cup on the table. 3.) Set filter in the cup so it is sturdy. 4.) Carefully put 250mg of soil 1 in filter. 5.) Accurately measure 250mL of oil in a graduated cylinder. 6.) Pour oil onto soil 1 slowly and steadily. 7.) Once oil is completely out of the cylinder begin timing filtering for 60 seconds with the stopwatch. 8.) After the 60 seconds are completed, immediately remove filter from the cup and set it in the sink. Immediately clean up any spills if you have any. 9.) Once the filter is in the sink pour the remaining oil in the cup, into the graduated cylinder. Record the amount on the piece of scratch paper, but this is not your final measurement. 10.) On the same paper as the recorded measurement, write the following equation: 250 - pollutants remaining = pollutants absorbed, and solve it by filling in the numbers where the variables are. 11.) Record the difference to the equation in step 10 on the organized table. 12.) Repeat steps 1-11 two times with the same pollutant and the same soil. 13.) Repeat steps 1-11 three times with the same pollutant and soil 2. 14.)  Repeat steps 1-11 three times with gasoline and soils 1 and 2.