Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello everyone

I am in search of ideas for science fair and my idea is to find ways to slow down the degeneration of calcium. I have not conducted much research yet but my basic idea is to take solid calcium pills and apply a sort of acid such as hydrochloric acid and record the results. Then I would apply some coating to the pill and use this as my manipulated variable. I would then apply the acid and record if there are any changes. I was hoping maybe I could apply this to geology such as the formation and protection of caverns or the protection of thing such as our own bones.

If you could provide your opinions on how effective this would be and any suggestions then that would be great.

Thank you for your help

Hi,

The study of the degradation or dissolution of calcium carbonate could be a really great project, and you are correct about the practical applications of doing a project like this.

Here is a basic project on this idea from the Science Buddies website:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure

This project involves just observation of the effect of vinegar on various samples. Since you mentioned pills or geology, you could use pills or rocks for your samples.

Here is another project on ocean acidification, which addresses the same issue that you are interested in:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure

For a high school project, you would ideally want to have a method for quantitating results. This could be done by weighing the samples over time, but you would need a very sensitive balance. Or, you would need a method for quantitating calcium. There are calcium selective electrodes available for pH meters and colorimetric methods for calcium analysis, so I recommend doing an internet search for calcium analysis methods and pick a method that is feasible for you to do. Let me know if you have any problem in finding a method.

You still need to do more background reading to develop this project into a carefully controlled experiment that will answer your research question. Perhaps you can investigate the effect of temperature, the effect of pH, or add something to the sample to slow the dissolution of the calcium carbonate. What question do you want to answer with your experiment?

Here is the science project guide from the Science Buddies website that will be very helpful.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

Also, please update your project status. The experts use this information to gauge our responses, so it is helpful to know when your project will be due. I assume your project will be due in January 2013?

Donna Hardy