Discussion
In my hypothesis, I stated that, if we use 25ml of dish soap, 25 ml of vinegar and baking soda, 10 cotton balls, and 1 sponge, then we will be able to contain 90% and absorb 88% of the crude oil. The hypothesis was proven incorrect because after all four items were put in, 98 % of the oil was gone. In my hypothesis, I stated that 80% of the oil will be n In my procedure, I started with the dish soap, because it would be easier to clean up the oil once it is contained. I then used the cotton balls, not all of them, to clean up the oil I then used vinegar and baking soda to contain the oil again because some of it was scattered from the cotton balls. I then used the spong to clean out the majority of the oil, and finally the remaining cotton balls to clean up the last little bits. Most of my variable were controlled. The amount of oil and water in the washbasin and the shape and size of the wash basin was controlled. The amount of materials I used was controlled throughout the experiment, as well as the temperature in the room and the densities of the liquid.
During my experiment, the sponge worked best the absorb the oil and the dish soap did the best job of containing it.The dish soap drove the oil into the corners, containing it in one spot. This happened because The sponge was used to scrape the surface of the water, where the oil floats. This was effective because the sponge was made for absorbing substances, such as water and oil. When the cotton balls were used, the cotton was saturated very quickly with water, allowing just a small bit of oil absorption. The vinegar and baking soda did not make much of an impact. It gathered the oil, which was scattered into very small clumps after the cotton balls were used. The cotton balls did not do anything to contain the oil. They were so quickly saturated with water that they had to be removed quickly. The vinegar and baking soda did not absorb any oil either as all it did was to displace the oil and gathering them into slight larger clumps. These were all in our predictions and the results are not a big surprise to us. The percentages that we estimated at the end of the experiment surpassed the percentages we hypothesized. The dish soap and the sponge worked much better than we thought it would work.
Overall, I believe that this experiment was very successful. We determined the best materials that absorb and contain oil the best and also observed each material's ability to absorb and contain oil. We successfully clean up a simulated oil spill with four materials, and if this was taken to a larger scale, for example, cleaning up crude oil spills, techniques that we have learned, such as using soap to contain the oil, will prove to be useful knowledge. Something that wasn't offered on the list that I would have used would be a bowl to scoop the oil out. I will also try other brands of dish soap. I would have also used seawater and actual crude oil to perform this experiment, instead of fresh water and vegetable oil. This method of doing the experiment would be a better simulation for an oil spill. One of the problems that might have made a difference would be that the soap was not completely stirred around. There was still a small remainder of soap that wasn't stirred
During my experiment, the sponge worked best the absorb the oil and the dish soap did the best job of containing it.The dish soap drove the oil into the corners, containing it in one spot. This happened because The sponge was used to scrape the surface of the water, where the oil floats. This was effective because the sponge was made for absorbing substances, such as water and oil. When the cotton balls were used, the cotton was saturated very quickly with water, allowing just a small bit of oil absorption. The vinegar and baking soda did not make much of an impact. It gathered the oil, which was scattered into very small clumps after the cotton balls were used. The cotton balls did not do anything to contain the oil. They were so quickly saturated with water that they had to be removed quickly. The vinegar and baking soda did not absorb any oil either as all it did was to displace the oil and gathering them into slight larger clumps. These were all in our predictions and the results are not a big surprise to us. The percentages that we estimated at the end of the experiment surpassed the percentages we hypothesized. The dish soap and the sponge worked much better than we thought it would work.
Overall, I believe that this experiment was very successful. We determined the best materials that absorb and contain oil the best and also observed each material's ability to absorb and contain oil. We successfully clean up a simulated oil spill with four materials, and if this was taken to a larger scale, for example, cleaning up crude oil spills, techniques that we have learned, such as using soap to contain the oil, will prove to be useful knowledge. Something that wasn't offered on the list that I would have used would be a bowl to scoop the oil out. I will also try other brands of dish soap. I would have also used seawater and actual crude oil to perform this experiment, instead of fresh water and vegetable oil. This method of doing the experiment would be a better simulation for an oil spill. One of the problems that might have made a difference would be that the soap was not completely stirred around. There was still a small remainder of soap that wasn't stirred