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Oil spills in general are hard to clean up. Whether they are the large ones that damage many ecosystems or the small ones that just seem to occur whenever you knock over a jar of cooking oil. But oil spills aren’t the only thing that bring oil into the oceans. We dump oil into the ocean every day. Whether it is from large factories dumping oil into a stream or from individuals dumping unwanted oil into local sewers. Three gallons of oil have the capability of covering one acre of surface area in an ocean.(Oil Spill Cleanup Experiments) Oil is very slick; this causes it to be very hard to absorb. It also spreads very easily. Due to these two reasons cleaning up oil is a difficult and a strenuous process. We have decided to conduct an experiment in which we are going to try to determine which substance is the best for cleaning up the oil spills, whether they are large or small.

As most people know, oil and water don’t mix. The reason why oil and water don’t mix is because oil is a non polar substance and water is a polar substance. Polar substances have a positive charge on one end of its molecule and a negative charge on the other. This causes the polar substance to be similar to a magnet and therefore is more likely to mix with a substance. Non polar objects are those that don’t have this magnet like abilities, and therefore do not mix well with other substances. When water and oil separate themselves in a container no matter how you pour it oil will be on top. Since the density of water is one, then anything less than one will float on water, as it is in oil’s case.

Sure, we can use paper towels to clean up the little oil spills in our homes, but we can’t throw a whole bunch of paper towels in the sea. If we do, then we would have to use tons and tons of resources to clean up the spill. Millions of our trees used to make the paper towels would be destroyed to make them. However paper may not be the best choice to absorb oil because it doesn’t absorb oil easily. Many of us has tried to clean a plastic container that use to have oil in it with just a paper towel. It is harder than it sounds. So if paperr has trouble cleaning a container than it might have even more trouble cleaning up the oil from the ocean. The reason why paper towels are absorbent is because they are composed of small molecules that form cellulose which are actually sugar molecules. When paper towels become wet, water molecules cling to the cellulose fibers, thus making paper absorbent. In our experiment we decided to choose the following substances to see which one would absorb the most oil: dog fur, cat litter, sand, newspaper, diapers, and hay to see which would absorb the most oil while using less of it. We chose the fur, sand, and newspaper because from past experiences those products would absorb the most oil. The cat litter and the diaper because we knew that they were meant for absorbing., and the hay because it is a plant. Plants use capillary effect to absorb water through their roots to use throughout the entity. Although the hay is dry grass we felt that it might still contain is capillary capabilities.

So in conclusion, there is more to this than just as you see it. We have learned what makes oil how it is, why it is so hard to cleanup, and other facts about oil. We have learned the physics of capillary action and how it works. We also learned what makes a substance absorbent. Both of us learned that sopping up oil with a paper towel is harder than it looks. So in our experiment we will be trying to find more economically efficient and less time consuming ways to absorb and clean up oil the oil spills.

Oil spills, such as the one in Kuwait during 1991, or one of the most recent and major one, the BP oil spill, have affected us and the environment in many ways. Both of these major oil spills still leave their dreadful, repugnant residue in the beautiful mass of salt, water, and minerals that we call ocean. For some time now, scientists and environmentalists have been striving to find a solution to soak up the detrimental oil, without harming the environment any more than it already has. During the first few weeks, when people began to realize the full impact of this terrible tragedy, they began to line up to donate items and at barber shops that would offer to cut your hair for free, just so they could do their part in helping to clean the environment. Through this experiment, we have tried testing five different mediums in order to find which soaks up the most oil in a one minute period: diapers, sand, cat litter, hay, dog fur, and newspaper.

During the experiment, we tested six different experimental groups to find out which one would hold the most oil. Making two trials, we tested each variable an even number of times. We took three cups of water and combined them with one cup of oil, however we didn’t shake it. Using a colander to hold a cup of each of the variables, we held it in the water/oil for one minute, and let it drain back any excess oil in for another thirty seconds. We did this for cat litter, newspaper, diapers, hay, and sand. For both trials, we did it in different areas, the first area was at an angle, and that may have changed our results a little bit. We did not notice until we were halfway through; we decided to continue because all the material needed to have the same environment. The results received after testing both trials were either similar to exactly the same, except that the second trial of testing a diaper’s ability to soak up water showed that the diaper also soaked up oil as well as water. Both times, some particles of sand ran through the colander while soaking in the oil. After conducting the experiment, hay was the least absorbent while the diaper absorbed the most which proved our hypothesis correct.

To see why we got these data results we have to see the basics of what makes a substance absorbent. Each substance we tested used capillary action to absorb the oil. Capillary action is when liquids flow into a porous substance (lots of holes) or through thin tubes. The liquid movement is caused by surface tension effects. A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms bonded with one oxygen, so at one end it is slightly more negative and at the other end it is slightly more positive making the water have this sticky magnet like characteristic. This characteristic of water makes it very easy to bond with other substances. We observed the components of the diaper we realized some facts. When cutting the diaper into smaller chunks we found out there were little crystal sand like particles inside the middle of the diaper. Those particles are sodium polyacrylate. After researching about it we found out those crystals were probably the main absorber of the oil and water followed up with the cotton that the diaper was made of. These crystals have the capability to absorb up to 200-300 times its weight in tap water and it can absorb even more than that if the water was distilled! But if we had only tested the diaper with only the fabric part (cotton), we still believe it will be the most absorbent. Since the cotton structure has a lot areas for water to bond it would be the most absorbent. Hay on the other hand doesn't have as much areas for the water to bond, and this causes it to not be as absorbent.

After conducting our experiment, we found that there were several ways that the experiment that the experiment could be improved. During our first trial we tested our variables on an uneven surface. Although we did catch it, it was already too late, however the slanted area did not have much effect to the experiment other than making the variables take in water as well as oil. Another factor that needs to improve within the experiment was the size of the container and the colander. The container was too small for the colander and the substance sometimes wouldn’t be fully submerged.Sometimes, the substance would absorb so much oil that it wouldn’t be touching the oil anymore. So it couldn’t absorb the oil to its full potential in one minute. Also the colander holes were sometimes a bit too large and the smaller sand, and cat litter grains would fall through the holes. The next time that we conduct this experiment, we will take all of these faults we have noticed while conducting this lab and improve our experiment.

Keep Calm And Absorb On

The Effect of absorbing different Substances in Oil.

By: Dorothy Lai and Kylie Dickinson

Bibliography

"A Moment of Science - Indiana Public Media | How Do Paper Towels Absorb Water?" A Moment of Science RSS. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

"Background Information for a Science Fair." Unlocking Science. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

"Diaper Variety Packs." Diaper Dabbler. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

"Forms." Student Science. Society for Science & the Public 2000 - 2014, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

"Oil Spill Cleanup Experiments." - Hands-on Projects. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

"Science Fair Project Background Research Plan." Writing a Science Fair Project Research Plan. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.

Strong, Kristin. "Goo-Be-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills." Goo-Be-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills. Science Buddies, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.

Background information

Graphs and Data Charts

Data Analysis

constants

Hypothesis

  • The type of water
  • The type of oil
  • The amount of water to oil ratio
  • The amount of soaking time
  • The amount of straining time
  • The amount of food dye in the water
  • The type of environment (room temp., lighting, etc.)

Abstract

If a diaper were to be placed in a container filled with a ratio of water to oil (3-1), then it would absorb the most oil out of all the materials we are to test.

This is the diaper brand we used (Parent's Choice) however we did not use these two specific ones in the experiment.

Our purpose for conducting this experiment is to find out which substance absorbs the most oil within a certain time period. With our results we will determine which experimental group can get the job done quickly and efficiently. For our procedures, we started each trial with a bowl filled with three cups of water and one cup of oil. We tried to minimize the bubbles to get more accurate results. Then we put each experimental group into the colander and submerged it within the water and oil combination for 1 minute, then let the colander with the substance inside it drain for thirty seconds. That way we saw how much it is actually able to hold not just how much can cling on for the moment being. Due to the absorbent cotton and the chemical gel (sodium polyacrylate), inside the diaper, along with the absorbent material, cotton, the diaper held by far the most oil, whereas the hay absorbed no oil. In conclusion, our experiment was a success because our hypothesis was proven to be correct. Due to the materials that compose it, the diaper soaked up the most oil out of all the substances we used. We have proven that diapers were most effective for holding oil and hay was the worst and therefore held little to no oil.

materials

Procedures

Conclusion

variables

Problem & Purpose

  • 15 cups of room temperature tap water
  • 1 bottle of food coloring
  • 6 cups of vegetable oil
  • 1 measuring cup (measured in increments to at least 1 cup)
  • 1 larger measuring cup (measured increments to at least 4 cups) (Preferably transparent)
  • 1 colander (preferably one with small holes)
  • 1 stopwatch
  • 1 cup of cat litter
  • 1 roll of newspapers
  • 1 cup of dog fur
  • 1 cup of hay
  • 1 pair of scissors
  • 1 roll of paper towels
  • 1 spoon (optional)

Control Variable-The amount of water to oil by itself without any other variables placed within the mixture.

Dependent Variable-The amount of oil absorbed.

Independent Variable-The type of substance/experimental group used.

13. If any bubbles form pop it with the back of the spoon or wait until the bubbles pop.

14. Measure out 1/2 the cup of cat litter and pour slowly onto the colander.

15. Slowly submerge the cat litter in the oil and water mix and keep it fully submerged for 1 minute.

16. Remove the cat litter from the mixture but let it sit above the container to drain all the excess oil back into the mixture. (So we can see how much the substance actually drains) For 30 seconds

17. Record the ratio of water and oil left in the measuring cup containing the water and oil.

18. Pour out the oil and water mixture.

19. Clean out and dry the containers to the state they were in the start of the experiment.

20. Repeat steps 8-19 but test the other variables.

1. Retrieve all materials needed

2. Prepare environment (cover area with paper to help prevent messes)

3. Begin cutting hay app. 1 1/2 inches long (enough to fill one cup)

4. Begin cutting the newspaper into app. 1 1/2 squares/ strips

5. Measure out 1 cup of sand

6. Measure out 1 cup of cat litter

7. Cut the diaper into app. 1 1/2 inch chunks (keep the crystal powder along with diaper)

8. Measure out 3 cups of water into the larger of the two measuring cups

9. Dye the water blue (1 drop per cup of water is sufficient)

10. Either wait for dye to spread evenly or stir with spoon

11. Measure out 1 cup of oil

12. Slowly pour the oil in with the water

Problem-What substance absorbs the most oil?

Purpose-Our purpose is to find which substance absorbs the highest quantity of oil?

In conclusion, our experiment was a success. Our hypothesis was proven to be correct. Due to the materials used in it, the diaper soaked up the most oil out of all the substances we used. We have proven that diapers are most effective for holding oil and that hay was the worst and therefore held little to no oil.

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