Introduction
The purpose of this project was to design a model or prototype relating to waste water or drinking water. We would attempt to change the state of water to become drinkable or come up with ways to reuse or depose of waste water effectively. At the end of the project we would present our ideas to the Novato Sunshine Rotary Club and see if they would fund one of our ideas to be used. My group decided to focus on clean water. We decided to use evaporation and condensation to clean dirty water through a solar still. However, we were unable to do so due to time constraints. This lead us to boiling the pond water to remove solutes and organic matter form the water. Then collecting the water vapors that would eventually condense. To test if evaporation made a difference in the purity of the water. We had four tests: pH levels, chlorine levels, ammonia nitrogen levels, and nitrate levels. We used the pond water and the evaporated pond water as our variable test and had tap water as our control to see if the evaporated water was clean. Out the end of tests we discovered that our test clean chlorine and nitrate from the water. However, ammonia nitrate levels and pH levels went it up. We hypothesized that this was due to the tubing and flask we used to collect the water vapor was uncleaned from previous chemistry experiments.
Content
- Ammonia Nitrogen - is toxic chemical compound that has 3 Hydrogen isotopes per nitrogen isotope.In our project, we tested for ammonia nitrogen levels in the dirty water and clean water to see if evaporation improved the drink ability of the water.
- Chlorine - is a element kills bacteria and viruses that commonly grow in water supplies. The safe range for chlorine in water is 1-3 ppm. Any water above 10 ppm can be poisonous to the human body. In our project, we tested for chlorine levels in the dirty water and clean water to see if evaporation clean it.
- Nitrates - is a toxic compound if consumed in high levels. Nitrate makes less oxygen available in the human body. In our project, we tested for nitrate levels in the dirty water and clean water to see if evaporation clean it.
- Condensation - When water vapor cools down the speed of the molecules slow down. Leading to the water vapor connecting to other water modules as they revert back to a liquid form. We used this process to collect the cleaned water from evaporation.
- Evaporation - When water molecules are heated up they move faster. Eventually, the top layer moves so fast that it turns into a water vapor (gas). We used this process to separate water molecules from from chemicals and minerals to create clean water
- Ionic Compounds - form from a metal that gives up electrons to become a positive charge.
- pH scale - is the probability of hydrogen in a liquid and is an objective measure of the acidity in a fluid. It is between 1-14 with 1 being acidic and 14 being basic. The safe drinking range for pH levels are 6.5-8.5. In our project, we tested for pH levels in the dirty water and clean water to see if evaporation improved the water quality.
- Molecular Compounds - form from sharing electrons.
- Solute - substances that become dissolved in solution. In our project we were trying to remove the solutes (chemicals) the solution (water).
- Solvent - a substance that dissolves a solute. We are trying to separate the solvent (water) from the solutes (chemical) to have clean water
- Solution - homogeneous mixtures of two or more substances in a single phase. The dirty water in our experiment was our solution.
- Solubility - the ability for a solute to dissolve in a solvent.
Our Project
Reflection
Working of this project was difficult. Due to time contrasts and bad weather we were unable to create our desired prototype, a functioning solar still. To resolve this issue, we still decided to stick to our plan of using evaporation and condensation to clean water. However, we would we used a hot plate to boil dirty water till it evaporated and collected the water vapor through a tube connecting to a clean flask.
During the project, I improved on leadership and presenting. First is leadership, I help decide that our project would focus on and split up the portions we would work on for the project. An example, is on the project I decided our project would focus on producing clean water through a solar still. Which would eventually changing to using evaporation to clean water. Second is presenting, I believe during the presentation that I presented my information well to Novato Rotary Club. I believe I was clear and loud so that our project could be easily hear.
Things I could have done better during the project were time management and decisiveness. The time management for our group wasn't the best. We didn't have a schedule nor did we plan our course of action for our project. This lead to my group being a little behind in the begin since we had no clear direction. To improve, on this skill I'm to create a schedule or plan of action for a project so we know what we are doing each day. Second was our decisiveness. As a group we were very apprehensive in the begin on picking a topic and goal for our project. We wasted the first few days of the our project work time deciding what our project would be and how we would start our project. For the future, I'm going to try to be more headstrong by picking an idea and sticking with it.
During the project, I improved on leadership and presenting. First is leadership, I help decide that our project would focus on and split up the portions we would work on for the project. An example, is on the project I decided our project would focus on producing clean water through a solar still. Which would eventually changing to using evaporation to clean water. Second is presenting, I believe during the presentation that I presented my information well to Novato Rotary Club. I believe I was clear and loud so that our project could be easily hear.
Things I could have done better during the project were time management and decisiveness. The time management for our group wasn't the best. We didn't have a schedule nor did we plan our course of action for our project. This lead to my group being a little behind in the begin since we had no clear direction. To improve, on this skill I'm to create a schedule or plan of action for a project so we know what we are doing each day. Second was our decisiveness. As a group we were very apprehensive in the begin on picking a topic and goal for our project. We wasted the first few days of the our project work time deciding what our project would be and how we would start our project. For the future, I'm going to try to be more headstrong by picking an idea and sticking with it.