Discussion
In my hypothesis I stated that if cotton balls, a spoon, a sponge, and dish soap are used, then 90% of the oil will be contained and 75% of the oil will be absorbed. My hypothesis was proven incorrect. I predicted that more oil would be contained than absorbed but my data proved the exact opposite. Although they were close we absorbed 2% more oil than we contained.
I chose cotton balls, a spoon, a sponge, and soap because we thought that when their cleaning properties worked together they would clean the most oil. The cotton balls proved to be a good substance to contain the oil because they were a thick substance. They would have been more effective if they were buoyant as they could float on the surface in a line in one spot. I thought the spoon would be effective because oil is less dense than water making it float. I tried to scoop oil off the surface with the spoon but it proved to be fairly ineffective. I chose the sponge because sponges are very absorbent. I thought that this would be a helpful thing to get rid of the oil. I chose the soap because I knew that oil and soap repel each other. I controlled the amount of soap we used and the number of cotton balls. My Independent variable was the materials we used to clean up the oil. My dependent variable was the percentage of oil contained and absorbed. I did not control the amount of oil and water as that was done for me.
My results proved many things. Of the substances that we chose the sponge proved to be the best at absorbing the waste. This is shown in the table, the graph of absorption and the graph of absorb and containment. In the data it did not show that it was very successful in containment. As I were using the sponge I had already used all three other materials and had the oil contained very well. The sponge was successful in keeping the oil in place although it did not move the oil together. The sponge also helped remove the waste soap from the water. In all it absorbed 80% of the waste. The two best things to contain the oil were cotton balls and the soap. The cotton balls were successful in containing the oil because they were thick enough to not let the oil through. The soap repelled the oil and pushed it to the edges, the cotton balls could then be used to move the oil to one particular point in the basin. Both the soap and the cotton balls contained 45% of the oil.
My project was successful. I decided that although it was quite successful on a small scale it would not have been successful on a larger scale. Much more powerful soap and much more of it would have been needed. This still would push it to beaches where it would seep into the sand. Also the cotton balls were not buoyant so they would have been unsuccessful in containing the oil. The spoon would have needed to have been huge and carried by some kinds of flying helicopters. It would have been very inefficient. The sponge also would have had to have soaked up lots of seawater. One problem that may have affected the experiment was the possibility of accidentally spreading the oil out after it had been contained. This is an example of human error that could have affected my experiment.
I chose cotton balls, a spoon, a sponge, and soap because we thought that when their cleaning properties worked together they would clean the most oil. The cotton balls proved to be a good substance to contain the oil because they were a thick substance. They would have been more effective if they were buoyant as they could float on the surface in a line in one spot. I thought the spoon would be effective because oil is less dense than water making it float. I tried to scoop oil off the surface with the spoon but it proved to be fairly ineffective. I chose the sponge because sponges are very absorbent. I thought that this would be a helpful thing to get rid of the oil. I chose the soap because I knew that oil and soap repel each other. I controlled the amount of soap we used and the number of cotton balls. My Independent variable was the materials we used to clean up the oil. My dependent variable was the percentage of oil contained and absorbed. I did not control the amount of oil and water as that was done for me.
My results proved many things. Of the substances that we chose the sponge proved to be the best at absorbing the waste. This is shown in the table, the graph of absorption and the graph of absorb and containment. In the data it did not show that it was very successful in containment. As I were using the sponge I had already used all three other materials and had the oil contained very well. The sponge was successful in keeping the oil in place although it did not move the oil together. The sponge also helped remove the waste soap from the water. In all it absorbed 80% of the waste. The two best things to contain the oil were cotton balls and the soap. The cotton balls were successful in containing the oil because they were thick enough to not let the oil through. The soap repelled the oil and pushed it to the edges, the cotton balls could then be used to move the oil to one particular point in the basin. Both the soap and the cotton balls contained 45% of the oil.
My project was successful. I decided that although it was quite successful on a small scale it would not have been successful on a larger scale. Much more powerful soap and much more of it would have been needed. This still would push it to beaches where it would seep into the sand. Also the cotton balls were not buoyant so they would have been unsuccessful in containing the oil. The spoon would have needed to have been huge and carried by some kinds of flying helicopters. It would have been very inefficient. The sponge also would have had to have soaked up lots of seawater. One problem that may have affected the experiment was the possibility of accidentally spreading the oil out after it had been contained. This is an example of human error that could have affected my experiment.