Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I agree with Terik that you have a very good question, and that the next step will be to conduct background research. When you see what studies have been been done on this topic, you'll start to get a sense of what you could do to improve on what has already been done. Keep in mind some of the practical and scientific questions that are related to the key words in your main question. For example, what, exactly is triclosan? What exactly is UV light? What is known about how UV affects its concentration? What are methods to quantify the concentration of triclosan? Are those methods available to you? Where does one find UV light? What sources of UV light have been used in previous experiments. What methods are available for using UV light in your own experiments? These are just some examples to get you started, and I'm sure you will think of many more.
Good luck!
Chris

Hello all!
I have discussed my project with my teacher and she had a few questions that I thought you guys could probably answer.
1) What the chemical name for triclosan is? so she can get familiar with it..
2) what instrument or device is used to measure chemicals like triclosan?
3) will it be expensive?
4)what are the procedures?
5) Also, she gave me some other possible ways like measuring the light source and wavelength..

But if you could answer these questions it would be helpful. please i need specifics!

Thanks write ASAP,

dlsmadscienctist
pm

Welcome back! I'm glad you have been able to discuss the project with your teacher.

The first question can be answered with a quick web search. Try going to google.com, or any other search engine, and type in "triclosan". You can find the answer right away. You can let us know if there is something that confuses you.
To answer the second question, try a search for "triclosan determination" or "triclosan analysis". You'll find many documents. Please let us know if you need help understanding those.
To answer the third question, yes, it would be expensive by science fair standards to directly measure triclosan concentrations unless you can find an analytical laboratory or university researcher who will mentor you and let you use their equipment.
The answers to the fourth question will be in the articles that you find when you answer the second question.

It sounds as though you have proposed to do an experiment to measure concentrations of triclosan before and after UV exposure. If the expense and equipment for direct measurements of concentration are an obstacle for you, you could reconsidering the earlier recommendation to study the efficacy of triclosan hand soap for inhibiting microbial growth on petri dishes, as opposed to the actual concentrations of triclosan.

Good luck!

Chris

Thanks,

Wow this seems tough...which idea do you think would be better and unique? I'm just saying I need some originality here.....



-dlsmadscienctist

You're welcome.
Neither experiment is better or more unique. They are just different. One would tell you about antimicrobial properties. The other would tell you about chemical concentrations.
Chris

ok?...have you ever thought of the idea of whether hot water working just as well as soap/antibacterial soap? Just wondering if this could be a possible science experiment...

ok?...have you ever thought of the idea of whether hot water working just as well as soap/antibacterial soap? Just wondering if this could be a possible science experiment...

also, i remember things about maglev train back in the day, and i was wondering what kind of project might i be doing? i am interested in that as a form of transportation...

thanks,

dlsmadscienctist
i need some info soon thanks

Sure, you could do a project comparing hand washing with hot water, soap, or antibacterial soap. Really, you can do a project on almost any topic that comes to mind. The trick is finding one that you like, and working hard to understand the concepts and to build on what's already been done. I would recommend that you stay on track with what you've already chosen. If that doesn't work for you and you want to go back to exploring a wide range of possible topics, then I'd recommend you go back to the "project ideas" page. There are several ideas there about magnetism and magnetic levitation, and additional information in this thread:
http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... =29&t=3968

Chris

Oh ok. Thanks.

Yea, I like the magnetic one, it's just that all the soap ideas have already been done, so i'd just be replicating an experiment...

Please forget about whether, at first glance, a topic seems to have been done. Please forget about whether, at first glance, a topic seems "original".

The goal is to build on what has already been done by other scientists. Typically, a good experiment will generate as many questions as it will answer. Your mission as an aspiring scientist is to find one of those questions generated by previous high-quality experiments, and then do your best to answer it. Most any topic, explored sufficiently, will lead you to the outer edge of our understanding of the world.

yes thanks,,
tod u have any helpful information about magnets and levitation? except the link that you gave me?

Have you read that thread about magnetic levitation, or looked at the project ideas, or tried a web search for "magnetic levitation"? If you have, what specific information confused you and/or interested you? If you haven't, please do all of those tasks and take notes as you go. When you are done, please post back here with specific questions or ideas from your reading notes. Once you have chosen a topic and started to reading online and in the library about that topic, then we experts can offer some really great help.

If you are having more basic problems getting started on your project, we will still try to help, but we can not choose a topic for you or give a lot of basic background information. To do a great project, it is very important for you to do those things yourself. For more info about how to make the most of this forum, see:
http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... c+Question
For help finding a topic, please read:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... Find+Topic
For general help about how to do a project from start to finish, see:
http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... ndex.shtml
For general questions about broad topics, we usually recommend web searches and library searches. Sometimes we help when a newcomer has a general question about a broad project, but after someone has asked about several different topics, it becomes a very inefficient use of our time.

Good luck!
Chris

Hi, I've been on here before. I need to know how to set up an exposure chamber pronto.


Thanks,

dlsmadscienctist
pm

Hi dlsmadscienctist,

Could you please some background.

Two questions:
1. What experiment are you working on?
2. How do "triclosan" and "exposure chamber" fit into the experiment?

Thanks.

Hi dlsmadscienctist,
Welcome back to the Ask an Expert forums. I've copied this thread about the triclosan project over to the Life Earth & Social Sciences forum, where it will get more attention from biology & chemistry specialists, and I've merged it with your previous thread so that experts can see the original background on your project. Please keep subsequent posts for this project in this thread. Thanks.
Looking forward to hearing more about your experiment,
Chris