Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

hi any ideas

Hi!
I have a few topics in mind and I need helping finding the one that will have most success and/or is unique.
Here are my ideas:
1.something about gasoline, and testing if its really worth what people are paying
2.anti-bacterial soap as i explained in a post.

Please reply fast, I need help!
I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

Hi dlsmadscienctist,
Welcome to the Ask an Expert forum. I merged your topics so that they won't get separated. Please try to keep your posts in this thread so that the experts will have an easier time helping you.
Here are my thoughts about your questions:
1) Estimating the "actual" monetary value of gasoline is complex and subjective. For example, how much would you pay for a gallon of gas if you were stranded in the desert with an empty tank, and your life depended on getting to the nearest town? At the other extreme, how much is a gallon of gas worth to someone who doesn't own a car and has no use for a gallon of gas? This relates more to economics than to science.
2) The antibacterial soap topic has potential for a project. You could test for concentrations of the active ingredient, which would be relatively difficult and/or expensive, or you could test the efficacy of antibacterial soap before and after UV exposure using zones of inhibition on agar plates.
Here are basic instructions and cautions for testing zones of inhibition.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ?from=Home
Please also review hazards of working with UV light on this page
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ?from=Home

Triclosan is the active ingredient in many hand soaps. You can find more information about UV affects on triclosan by searching for "triclosan photodegradation".

Good luck,
Chris

Thanks a bunch, that helps.
My school gives grants....do you think I should apply for one? Is the expensive way the way to go?
Also, should I be testing numerous soaps, or just one in particular?

You're welcome. As far as analyzing for chemical constituents versus using agar plates, either approach would be fine. They just answer slightly different questions. Trying to find a laboratory to analyze for antibiotics could be a challenge, depending on where you live and what is available in your area.
Whether you choose one soap or several is up to you. Again, different procedures will answer different questions.

how about a thermal electric generator???

Are you asking whether thermal electric generation would be a good topic for a science fair?

Yes, that is exactly what I am asking...

If that topic interests you, then it would be a good one for a science fair project. You could do an engineering project or a scientific project.

Why yes it interests me. Has this topic been done before? Also, would it be project that could have success?

dlsmadscienctist wrote:Yes, that is exactly what I am asking...

Please take a look at: http://scitoys.com/board/messages/1/559 ... 1201274676
Thanks.

Two points:

1. Yes, someone else has done a project on the same topic.
2. There seems to be another bulletin board like sciencebuddies!

Tongue in cheek, maybe there are parallel universes.

Thanks for the heads up.
Some other ideas came to mind and I was wondering if it was a good one, and if they have any potential success.
Here it is:
I was thinking if there was someway to harness the warmth given off by people in popular areas, and then using it to generate energy.

Another is using the heat given off by the sun outside to heat salt which would turn to liquid and absorb the heat making it cooler, and when it is cold it solidifies and releases heat, like insulation. This could be used for buildings or structures? I don't know where I am going with this. Help please?

Hi,
Regarding capturing body heat to generate energy (do you mean electricity?), it is theoretically possible, but it is hard to see how this exact idea would be practical or useful. Generally, people like to be warm and cozy, and do not want to feel the effects of temperature gradients on their body.

Regarding the idea of solar heating & phase change (solid to liquid or liquid to solid) this general concept has a lot of practical applications. The principals are the same as an air-conditioner, where liquid-gas phase changes are used to transfer heat. Here is an example of your idea in action: http://www.solarpanelsplus.com/thermal-how-it-works/
You can also find more info about some similar, smaller-scale applications here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe.
I do not understand the idea of using salt. Sodium chloride salt melts at 801 °C. You would need some substance that undergoes phase changes at or near room temperature. For the idea of using the phase change to store energy from the sun, keep in mind that the same thing could be accomplished with, for example, a concrete wall that absorbs heat during the day and releases it at night. The advantage of something like what you've proposed is that it could be smaller, more flexible in its use, and it could potentially be more easily added to existing houses.

Thank you, again.
I've decided that the two projects are difficult and confusing.
I would like to ask if there is any potential for doing a project on Alternative fuels? I need help thinking of a unique project. Maybe testing different fuels? Propane? Natural Gas?

You're welcome.
Yes, there is potential for doing a project on alternative fuels. I haven't been able to find an example on our website, but if you try a web search for "alternative fuels science projects" you will find some examples.
Please don't be discouraged if a topic seems confusing. All topics seem that way sometimes. It might just be a matter of asking a few questions.
The best way to find a good topic is to follow your own curiosity. At this point, don't worry about whether a topic is unique or original. That will come later.

Chris

Hi! Here again.

On the antibacterial soap project, has it been done yet? I mean, hasn't the government or whatever group lookover what is in antibacterial soap, making it ok for people to use it? I think they already tested for triclosan. Do you think that the exposure to UV rays has been done before?


Thanks,
dlsmadscienctist
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As Chris already told you, don't worry at this stage about whether something is unique--worry about whether or not it's interesting to you at this stage. I honestly don't know what sort of government oversight of hand soaps there are (very little, would be my guess), but just because someone somewhere has done it before doesn't mean it's not worth doing. In fact, science is built on what we call repeatable results--things that happen every time someone performs a test. Thus, it's sometimes important to replicate experiments that have already been done.

Hi dlsmadscienctist,

If you do a google search on "antibacterial soap science project", you'll discover that there have been many projects on this theme. Note, however, MelissaB's and ChrisG''s comments that it's OK to do another project with the same theme. You may also be inspired to think about a variant to prior work, tough it's not necessary.

Hi,
I assume you are talking about the project idea you presented on page 1 to look at the effect of UV on triclosan. As I mentioned on page 1 of this thread, I think that would be a fine project. Have you gone through the exercises I suggested related to this project idea? If you have, what did you find, and what further help do you need? If you haven't, please go take a look at those suggestions and give them a try.
Thanks,
Chris

Thank you to all and to you ChrisG!

I have read the information you have given me about the UV light and its effect. The other about zone inhibition and agar places, I do not quite grasp, and it was somewhat confusing. Anyway, The second website was understandable. Hopefully there are some labs that can help me out.
I think this project would be good, and I am wondering whether it is good enough for intel? What should I do to maximize my chances of winning and getting to intel or isef?

Thanks,
dlsmadscienctist
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dlsmadscienctist,

Another student has been having worries similar to the ones that you seem to be having about whether or not your project idea is "good enough" for ISEF.

I gave the other student some advice based on my own experiences; that post can be found here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... =28&t=3908.

In addition to looking at the post, I would also highly recommend looking at the material under the "Competitions" page of the Science Buddies website. It is full of useful advice about preparing for a top competition like Intel ISEF.

Good luck!

Thanks,

I've been thinking and I've come up with a couple more ideas.
I was wondering if there was some type of exotic fruit or plant that could be researched? for poisons maybe.
Also, I've heard about a fish's gallbladder and how it has medicinal effects. But what could I possibly do with that?

It's getting close to school time, and I am determined to get my idea as clear as possible.

-dlsmadscienctist
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If you wanted to research poisons, you would need access to a chemistry lab and proper safety equipment. You'd also need to figure out what your question was and what organism you were thinking about in terms of poison (for example, some plants are poisonous to insects but not humans, and vice-versa).

Can you link to the information you saw about fish's gallbladders? Most of what I saw when I did a search was medical papers detailing cases where people had actually been poisoned by eating fish gallbladders. In general, what you would want to do is figure out what its benefit is supposed to be and then find a test you can do with it that doesn't involve human or animal subjects. For example, if it's supposed to prevent kidney stones, which are calcium deposits, you could put calcium tablets in salt water with and without pureed fish gallbladders and see if the one with fish gallbladder puree dissolves faster.

Thank you,
I haven't gotten a definite link, I just heard some info about it. Fish oil is another topic I might be interested but I can't decide what I would investigate..

so what could i do with fish oil?

Hi,
As far as I know the main interest in fish oil has been as a dietary supplement. Try an internet search for "fish oil experiment" and you'll see what I mean.

It is probably time to stop thinking of potential topics and to choose one that you've already considered. You have a few good ideas to choose from already in this thread. I sense the experts are running out of time to give advice on these very broad questions about which topic to choose. These forums are intended to help students who have a specific question about their project that they have tried to research but have been unable to answer using other resources. I would suggest you dig into the project ideas section:
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... deas.shtml
and the project guide:
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... ndex.shtml
Please keep us posted about your progress and any difficulties you encounter.

Looking forward to hearing more about your project,
Chris

Thanks again Chris,

I've leaning towards the antibacterial soap project. Your suggestions are great, but I wouldn't see what I would be doing if I were to just test for triclosan..? Do you think I should take one brand of antibacterial soap because there are many? I also like the effects of UV exposure...but if you could just answer a coulpe of questions that would be superb.

Thanks a lot,

dlsmadscienctist
pm

You're welcome. What you would be doing and how you would design the experiment will depend on your scientific question and hypothesis. For the first step, you will need to come up with a sentence or two that asks a question, for example, something about hand soap, triclosan, and UV radiation. For additional guidance, please read the following section on "Your Science Fair Project Question":
http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... tion.shtml
When you have read that section and you have come up with a scientific question, please post that scientific question here. It doesn't have to be a final version of the question. We will help you to refine the question so that you can conduct some in-depth background research to develop a hypothesis. Once that is done, we can talk about experimental design and questions such as how many hand soaps to use.

I hope that helps.
Chris

Ok I've come up with a question, and I believe it's good: How does UV exposure affect the amount of triclosan in antibacterial soap?

Anything wrong with it?

Also, will I be needing approval from the science committee to do this project?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,

dlsmadscienctist
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dlsmadscienctist,

I think that your question is an excellent one. You have clear, well-defined, quantitative independent and dependent variables. Having well-defined variables is important for any science fair project. The fact that both your variables are quantitative (you can measure both of them) means that if will probably be fairly easy to determine the relationships between your independent and dependent variable, but this is something to worry about later. As ChrisG pointed out, the first thing is to get your question nailed down, the second thing to to do some serious background research, and then we can worry more about methods. I'm sure that the other Experts will have some helpful comments on your question.

As far as whether or not you need to get approval from the science fair committee, that depends somewhat on the fair you will be competing in. Intel ISEF has some very strict rules that must be complied with in order to be eligible for competition at the fair. Since you said earlier that you were concerned about your project being "good enough" for ISEF, I am assuming that you are planning to enter the project at an Intel ISEF-affiliated fair. The affiliated fair has to comply with the Intel ISEF rules I mentioned earlier, but some fairs make their rules stricter. If you need to compete at a school or district science fair to qualify to attend an Intel ISEF-affiliated regional fair, the rules at that fair may also be slightly different from the international rules. The best person to talk to regarding questions you may have about complying with the rules at your local and regional science fair is the regional fair's SRC Committee Chairperson. He or she will be able to determine whether or not your project needs pre-approval and whether or not you need to fill out any additional forms. My gut-level response would be that you will need some sort of pre-approval to work with UV, but I'm not certain; the best person to talk to is the SRC Committee Chairperson for your fair.

Good luck on the project!