Goo-Be-Gone:Cleaning Up Oil Spills Science Experiment

[AnyssaB]

Goo-Be-Gone:Cleaning Up Oil Spills Science Experiment:

Hello, I am currently in the middle of experimenting with this project, however, I am having trouble calculating the Total Water and Oil level, the Remaining Water level after Removing Sorbent, the Remaining Oil level after Removing Sorbent, and the Ration of Remaining Water divided by the Remaining Oil level. For example, my first sorbent is cotton. I started at 4 cups in total, 3 cups of water 1 cup of oil, and after adding and removing the cotton, I have 3 1/3 cups of total water and oil left. Under the "Remaining Water level after Removing Sorbent" category, I put 2 2/3 cups, and under the "Remaining Oil level after Removing Sorbent" category, I put 2/3 cups(which would in total equal 3 1/3 cups.) However, once I calculated the "Ration of Remaining Water divided by the Remaining Oil level," which I did 2 2/3 divided by 2/3, I end up with the end total of 4 cups, which is the exact number I started with. I'm very confused about how that could happen, which makes me believe I've done something wrong along the way, but can't figure out what. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I hope to hear from someone soon!

Moderator Note: Science Buddies does not allow double posting of questions, but we do have a way to cross-post a question. I will removed the duplicate post and cross-post, so the effect will be the same. Good luck with your project! Link to project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... oil-spills


Madeline

[williamshane]

Although your calculations appear to be accurate, there may be an error in the way the data are shown. Make sure that throughout the computations, the units (cups) remain the same. Verify the arithmetic twice more to make sure the values are correct.