Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello Out There!

I am working hard on my science project under the topic, "Effect of Exercise: Changes in Carbon Dioxide output in exhaled air before and after performed by two different groups, Athlete and Non-Athlete."

(I let my subjects exhale right after exercise. Then, I measured the relative amount of CO2 by counting the # of NaOH drops that turns Phenolphthalein solution to pink meaning that CO2 gets neutralized.

The data I collected was far different from my expectation that I submitted as my Hypothesis, "Non-athlete takes shorter to produce Carbon Dioxide than (Conditioned) Athlete. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO MY DATA, THE CO2 AMOUNT WAS ABOUT THE SAME! )

I have 2 questions to professional scientist and the student who did similar project!

Q1) Is it OK with my test results doesn't prove my Hypothesis?
Q2) Is there any theoretical values, published data, or comonly held belief for my Hypothesis? I tried online research visiting Journal of Phisiology and Pubmed, etc. I had to read many papers, and abstraction, but I couldn't find the one supporting my Hypothesis, YET! Please help me!

Thank you so much!

Indigo,

It is absolutely fine that your results do not support your hypothesis; this is normal in scientific research. The question you want to ask next is WHY your results are different. Ask yourself: What things did you not consider when you were forming your hypothesis? Did anything unexpected happen during the procedure? What are possible errors in the procedure? What errors might have resulted when you carried out the experiment?

About your hypothesis: When you say that "A nonathlete will take shorter to produce carbon dioxide than a conditioned athlete," do you mean the nonathlete will produce carbon dioxide in less time, or in a smaller amount?

Science Buddies describes a similar project to yours:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... p013.shtml
It might give you some guide questions to understand your results or ways of refining your experiment.

Sonia