Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I have been exposing 7 metals (sterling silver, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, zinc-coated steel, copper, and plain steel) to 5 different oxidants (tap water, air, salt water, vinegar/water mixture, and baking soda/water mixture). I have been noting changes daily in my journal. I don't know how to make a data table/graph based on the changes in quality of the metals. Thoughts?

Because you have a variety of metals and oxidants and you didn't mention any measurements, there probably isn't anything that you can graph. A Data Table matrix divided one way by metals and the other way by oxidants with comparative summary results is about all that I can think of.

Thank you for your reply.

Guitarguy,

Here are a few thoughts to add on to Craig_Bridge.

What exactly are you trying to measure? Some ideas are surface area, color, etc.

You can stick to the data matrix; you can also simply make five different graphs (one for each oxidant) where the x axis are your metals and the y axis is the quantity you would like to measure.

Hope this helps,

--Manjinder

Thank you Manjinder for your reply. I never thought about doing something like that.