Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Is there a video that I can view for a demonstration? The directions are unclear and my student is struggling to complete this project. We are in desperate need or help.

Welcome to Science Buddies,
Is there anything in particular within the procedure that you find unclear? I tried finding a video on this project, but it doesn't seem like there is one. Just let me know which parts of the experiment you might be struggling with, and I would be happy to help!

EricBebenov24

We are having problems with unclear directions as well. For example, how much of the starting solutions are we supposed to pour into the cups with granulated/powdered charcoal? I would think it would need to be the same amount for each test cup but I dont see where an exact amount is listed.

Hello and welcome to Science Buddies!

Are you doing this Science Buddies project?

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

My understanding of the procedures shows how much starting solution to prepare:

Step 1 (b) in "Preparing Your Samples and Filters" says to

Measure 2 cups (about 500 mL) of tap water into each plastic cup using the measuring cup.

And then, Step 1 (b) in "Filtering Your Samples" says to

With a measuring cup, add 0.5 cups (about 120 mL) of the dye solutions that you prepared in step 1 of "Preparing Your Samples and Filters", to each of the cups with the respective label.


The result is shown in Figure 6 for the "2GA", i.e. 2 drops, granular activated carbon.

Does this help to answer your question about how much of the starting solution to use in each cup?
Please post again if you have more questions.

I also need help on procedure # 3. I don’t get what to label and I’m really struggling and want to get a good grade

Hello,

I'm not sure what you mean by "Procedure #3"?

At the top of the Procedures, I see the section for preparing your samples:

Preparing Your Samples and Filters

In this section, you will prepare a total of 21 cups

Then, 1 (a) instructs you to use a permanent marker to label 3 cups. I suggest you use the search in your browser to search for "label" to see how to label the rest of the cups.

Another way to visualize how many cups and their labels is to look at figure 1 which shows how to set up the data tables in your lab notebook. The data table has 3 rows for your observations, 1 row for each of the 3 dye concentrations. Note also that the data table has 3 columns to record your observed color ratings, 1 column for each trial. Think of this as 9 cups laid out in a 3 x 3 table.

Note that you are instructed to make 3 copies of this table in your notebook, 1 copy for each type of carbon.

You will need to label a cup for each row x column in each of the 3 tables. Maybe it will help you to visualize the cups if you lay out the 9 cups that correspond to each table?

Let us know if this helps! Or maybe this will help you to describe where you need more explanations.