PURPOSE
The purpose of this experiment was to determine to what degree acid
rain affects the growth of certain plants.
I became interested in this idea because Im worried about our environmental
conditions and it sounded very interesting to me.
The information gained from this experiment may be used to as a warning
to stop air pollution.
HYPOTHESIS
My hypothesis is that the plant watered with the acid solution will
grow more slowly than plants watered with regular rainwater.
I base my hypothesis on a book that has a picture of a tree that acid
rain has fallen on compared to a regular tree.
Back To Top
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
The constants in this study were:
*The temperature where the plants were grown.
*The type of plant tested.
*The amount of water each day.
*The amount of sunlight each day.
*The amount of soil in each pot.
*The type of soil in each plant.
*The size of the pot.
*The shape of the pot.
The manipulated variable was the amount of acid in each watering solution.
The responding variable was the growth of each plant.
I will use a centimeter ruler to measure the responding variable, which
is the height of the plant.
Back To Top
MATERIALS
| QUANTITY |
ITEM DESCRIPTION |
| 4 |
plastic pots |
| 4 |
spray bottles |
| 1 |
pH metercfr or pH paper |
| 2 |
eye droppers |
| 4 |
liters of distilled water |
| 1 |
marking pen |
| 8 |
marking pen |
| 1 |
Source of light |
| 1 |
Bag of Potting soil |
| 1 |
Bottle of lemon Juice |
Back To Top
PROCEDURES
1. Fill each pot to the top with the potting soil.
2. Label one pot "acid" and the other "normal".
3. Place a seed into slightly moisted soil in each pot.
4. Water the seeds and soil.
5. Place both pots under a source of light.
6. Every two days, water with distilled water and place in the light.
7. Repeat step 6 until each plant has fully expanded a pair of leaves.
8. Pour 1 liter of distilled water into one of the empty spray bottles.
9. Mix 1 liter of distilled water with 5 drops of lemon juice and pour
into the other spray bottle.
10. Measure the acid solution with a pH meter or a pH paper. It needs
to be around 3.
11. If too much acid, pour in more distilled water.
12. If not enough acid, keep adding until it reads about 3.
13. Mix by swirling water around.
14. Label the bottle with distilled water normal and the acid solution
bottle acid.
15. Mist the leaves of the normal pot with its matching spray bottle.
16. Let leaves dry, then place in original growth spot.
17. Mist the leaves of the acid pot with its matching spray bottle.
18. Let leaves dry, then place in original growth spot.
19. Repeat steps 15-18 until obvious results.
Back To Top
RESULTS
The original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the
plants would be affected by an acid solution.
The results of the experiment were that the plants tested with an acid
solution died and the other plants tested with distilled water lived.
Back To Top
CONCLUSION
My hypothesis was that the plant tested with an acid solution would
not live and the plant tested with distilled water would live.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted.
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if I had put in
a smaller amount of acid in the solution if it would still affect the growth.
Another thing I wonder about is if I would've used different plants
if the results would be the same.
I also wonder if I would have used a different type of acid if it would
effect the results of this experiment.
If I were to conduct this project again I would probably add less acid
to that solution and I would also test more plants.
Back To Top
RESEARCH REPORT
Introduction
Acid Rain is the common name for acid deposition, such as rain, snow,
sleet, hail, and other forms of polluted precipitation. Acid deposition
is a worldwide problem for all natural things including bodies of water,
forests, and other things. Pollution is the cause of all acid deposition.
Cause
There are many types of pollution that cause acid precipitation. A
big one is cars and their exhaust. The usage and burning of fuel and oil
creates a lot of exhaust. Another big pollution problem is factories and
refineries that burn fuel, oil, and coal. Then certain chemical compounds,
including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, from fossil fuels, rise and
mix with water vapor, and falls in a form of precipitation. As factories
have been getting more and taller smokestacks, Acid precipitation has been
moving more around the world. Acid precipitation is worst in eastern North
America, Northwestern and Central Europe, throughout Asia, and other scattered
places around the World. As more factories and refineries are built, and
the smokestacks get taller, the wind blows the polluted air to other countries,
sometimes hundreds of miles away.
The pH Level
Acid rains acid level is measured by the pH level. The scale
is measured on a 1-14 number scale, 1 being the most acidic and 14 being
the most alkaline. A 7 is not either acidic nor alkaline, being known as
distilled water. To measure the pH level of acid precipitation, scientists
use a pH meter or a pH paper. On average, a normal pH level for acid precipitation
is around 5.6. The more pollution in the atmosphere, the more acidic the
acid precipitation is going to be. Depending on the pH level, acid precipitation
can do a lot of damage.
Effects
The effects of Acid precipitation are getting worse as more cars are
manufactured and sold to the public and as more factories are built and
opened for people to work in. Acid precipitation harms thousands of lakes,
ponds, rivers, and streams worldwide. Depending on the pH level, acid precipitation
could kill and damage almost all of the aquatic life, including the animals,
plants, and all of the other living things in that body of water. The acid
rain also kills everything around that body of water, including the trees,
bushes and the grass around the surface of the water. Some scientists also
believe that Acid Rain does damage to stone buildings and stone statues.
They believe it erodes away the stone. Acid shock is a very interesting
form of the acidifying of a body of water. It happens during the spring.
The acid snow melts and flows into a body of water. Its called acid shock
because it turns a normal lake or other body of water into a very acidic
body of water in a very short amount of time.
Prevention
There are not very many ways to prevent acid rain and other acid precipitation.
Scientists are trying to think of more ways to prevent acid precipitation.
There are already a few methods of cleaning up the atmosphere, including
cutting back on fuel, oil, and coal burning. Some factories throughout
the world have coal washers. That prevents air pollution, but the water
from the coal gets dumped into a sewer and creates more sewage problems.
There have been several attempts to stop local factories by people in the
past, but then realized they couldnt live because the factories provided
warmth and electricity, so they couldnt shut them down. After people got
taller smokestacks, the pollution was getting better there, but worse in
other countries. The reason is the wind blew the clouds hundreds of miles
away. Also, some people have tried to stop driving as much, but at the
end, everybody was driving again, doing just as much of it as they were
before if not more. The pollution would be less in that area, but worse
in other areas, so the people in that area would drive more, thinking its
okay.
Summary
Acid Rain and all other acid precipitation are a world wide problem.
Even in areas with out the factories and vehicles have acid precipitation
because the wind blows the pollution to other parts of the world. The main
causes of acid precipitation are cars and their exhaust and the other is
factories and the burning of fossil fuels. Certain chemical compounds such
as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide mix with the moisture in the air
and are formed into clouds and then produce acid precipitation. To measure
the acid level of acid precipitation, scientists use either a pH meter
or a pH paper. The scale is on a 1-14 scale, 1 being the most acidic and
14 being the most alkaline. The average acid level is around 5.6. Depending
on the pH level acid precipitation can do a lot of damage. The effects
of acid precipitation are getting worse as more cars and factories are
made. Acid precipitation is damaging thousands of lakes, ponds, rivers,
and streams worldwide. There arent many forms of prevention, but the best
form of stopping air pollution is washing the coal before it is burned.
The con to that is the remains of dirty water from the coal is dumped and
it causes more sewage problems.
Back To Top |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acid Rain, Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia, 1995
Acid Rain, Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia, 2000
Acid Rain [online] http://tgvs.nws.noaa.gov/er/mhx/acid.htm Jan 4,2000
Acid Rain [online] http://www.nws.noaa.gov/er/mhx/acidg.htm Jan 11,
2000
Brooks, John Acid Rain Chicago, Illinois, 1997 pp. 2-37
Likens, Gene E. Acid Rain, World Book Encyclopedia, 1991 Vol. 1 p.
27
|
Top of page
Menu of 1999-2000
Science Projects
Back to the Selah Homepage
|
