Oil Spill Experiment

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paigeispretty
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:14 am
Occupation: Student: 11th grade
Project Question: What effect does the weight of a sorbent have on cleaning up the oil spills?
I need help advancing this project in order for it to be fit for the science competitions.
Project Due Date: December 18
Project Status: I am conducting my research

Oil Spill Experiment

Post by paigeispretty »

Hi-

I am in the beginning stage of conducting my experiment for science. I plan to test different conditions of water (one with little nutrients, one with too much nutrients, and one that is equilibrium or normal) to see how it affects how much oil the Alcanivorax borkumensis bacterium digests.
My independent variable is: changes in the different conditions of water
My dependent variable is: amount of oil consumed

My questions/concerns are:
1) What type of water should I use?
*Note: I am not testing this in the ocean. I am creating a mock experiment.
2) How much nitrogen and phosphate should I use?
3) What are the normal amounts of nitrogen and oxygen in the water? How can I convert that in terms of my experiment?
4) What type of oil should I use and how much?
5) How do I calculate how much oil the bacterium has digested?

Thanks! :D
paigeispretty
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:14 am
Occupation: Student: 11th grade
Project Question: What effect does the weight of a sorbent have on cleaning up the oil spills?
I need help advancing this project in order for it to be fit for the science competitions.
Project Due Date: December 18
Project Status: I am conducting my research

Re: Oil Spill Experiment

Post by paigeispretty »

P.S: I am making a scale model of the experiment at home.
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