Acidification lab report PDF

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Itai Mccarley Professor Onwuka EVR 1001L 22 January, 2018

Acidification: Experiment 1 Title: The effects of ocean acidification on sea shells (22 January, 2018).

Purpose: To see the impact that acids have on eggs shells which serve as a proxy for sea shells.

Materials: 

Egg Shell



Concentrated HCl



Distilled Water



White Vinegar



pH Strips



pH Meter



2 petri dishes



Dropper

Procedure: First one should break the egg shell and divide them among two petri dishes. Then, label the dishes with the two acids that shall be used (vinegar and HCl). After, measure and notate the pH for both the HCl and the vinegar (using both the strips

and meter). Following that, with a dropper, add a few drops of the HCl onto the egg shells in the proper petri dish. Repeat the same step with the other dish using vinegar. After that, note any observations or changes. Then, let the egg shells sit in the acid for 30 minutes and note any observations.

Data and Observations: Regarding the pH of the acids, they were measured using both pH strips and a pH meter. The results are shown below: pH Reading Meter Strips

HCl 0.45 0

Vinegar 2.75 2

Overall, the pH meter yielded more accurate measures of pH. Both of these substances are classified as acids due to their very low pH’s. Regarding the shells, as soon as the acids were dropped, the shells started to fizz up while maintain their original shapes. After the thirty minutes, the shells started to deteriorate slowly. The shells also seemed to become thinner and lose part of their shape. The shells that had HCl seemed to be in a worse state than those that were not.

Vinegar

HCl

Analysis: The results from this lab were that both acids used, HCl and vinegar, did cause damage to the shells. The reason being is that the excess amount H + ions in these acids take away from the protection of the egg shell. This was found to be more relevant when dealing with the HCl. The way pH is measured is that every value it decreases, the number of H+ ions increase ten-fold. So, a difference of around two (in pH value) between HCl and vinegar means that HCl has 100 times the amount of H + ions than vinegar. This showed in the experiment when the egg shells that had vinegar were in better shape than those in HCl. There should be minimal to no errors as the lab was facilitated by the instructor.

Conclusion: This experiment was done to show the effect of acidification on creatures that have or live in shells. The egg shells were used as a proxy for actual sea animals. These results show that acids negatively affect these shells, deteriorating them. Although the ocean is larger than a peetri dish and has its own mechanism of balancing pH, these experiments still shows how acids do damage sea animals. A major source of this is our excess carbon emissions. A large part of our emissions are absorbed by the ocean, and although we do not receive the full effect of this, the bio-diversity of the ocean will negatively inflicted. Eventually, a damaged marine eco-system can affect our food supply, leaving billions hungry. We need to do our part by helping lower our emissions to give us a chance to survive on our own earth.

Acidification: Experiment 2

Title: An experiment to determine the effect of CO2 on ocean water (22 January, 2018)

Purpose: To visualize the impact of CO2 on tap water which is a proxy for ocean water.

Materials: 

Beaker



Brothymol Blue Indicator



Glass Straw



pH Meter



CO2 (from the breath of Ike)

Procedure: Fill beaker up with tap water. Then, add minute amount of brothymol blue into the flask. After, stir water until it turns blue. Once that is done, take pH sample of water and record results. Then, take a glass straw and blow into the blue water. After that, take pH and note any changes in appearance.

Data/Observations: When the chemical indicator, brothymol blue, was added the water turned blue. In addition, the initial pH value was 10.04, which was achieved using the meter. After the CO2 was added, the water turned green and the new pH value was 7.08.

pH Reading Color of Water

Water before CO2 10.04 Blue

Water after CO2 7.08 Green

Analysis: This experiment demonstrated how CO2 lowers pH levels in solutions. This was demonstrated by the use of human breath (which is largely consisted of CO 2). In addition, the use of the brothymol blue helped indicate the reaction between the carbon dioxide and the water (through the change in color). This lab yielded proper results since this was done under the control of the lab instructor.

Conclusion: This lab comes to show the effects that uncontrolled industrialization has on the ocean and its current biodiversity. A major bi-product of industrialization is carbon. Although a lot of this carbon pollutes our air, a large amount gets absorbed by the ocean. Despite not being directly affected by this, this will eventually come back to be our problem. A major issue of carbon being emitted into our waters is ocean acidification. This acidification harms creatures, eventually damaging the bio-diversity of the ocean. The actual manner this is done is by the decrease in carbonate which is

used by the animals to build their shells. A long-term effect of this will be the depletion of sea food which many people on this planet rely on as a food source. Overall, it is our responsibility as inhabitants of this earth to maintain it in a livable fashion, so we can continue to exist for generations to come.

Acidification: Experiment 3

Title: The neutralization of a dilute acid using a dilute base (22 January, 2018)

Purpose: To create sea water using a diluted acid with a diluted base.

Materials: 

Diluted NaOH



Diluted HCl



Diluted Water



Phenolphthalein



Burette



Conical Flask



Beaker



pH Meter



Kim wipes



Pipet



Funnel

Procedure: First, using the pipet, take 10 ml of HCl solution and place it into the beaker. After that add a couple drops of phenolphthalein to the acid solution. Then, using a funnel, fill the burette with 20 ml of the NaOH solution. After, take the initial the pH value of the HCl solution and record your results. Going forward, add 1 ml of the NaOH solution into the beaker using the switch on the burette. After that, take the pH of the solution created and tabulate results. Repeat this until 5 ml of NaOH were added. At that point, start taking .5 ml at a time until we get a total of 10 ml of NaOH added. Then, go back to 1ml at a time until a grand total of 15 ml of the base solution were added. Once done, properly dispose of chemicals as this can cause great harm to someone. Data/observations: Unlike experiment 2, the indicator used only became visible as the solution became more basic. The pH value grew as more of the basic solution was added. There was a major jump in pH value around 13 ml. The results were recorded below: NaOH 0 1 2 3 4 5 5.5

pH 0.98 1.00 1.06 1.12 1.18 1.19 1.23

NaOH 6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9

pH 1.26 1.31 1.36 1.4 1.46 1.53 1.59

NaOH 9.5 10 11 12 13 14 15

pH 1.67 1.75 2 2.65 6.94 9.9 10.96

Analysis: This experiment comes to show how an acid can become neutralized through the addition of basic solutions. The actual chemical formula used for this is as following: HCl + NaOH = NaCl + H2O. In practical terms, this means that an acid and a base

create salt and water which is essentially sea water. The phenolphthalein was used to show the chemical reaction of the basic and acid solvents. Despite having equipment failure to begin our lab, (the pH reader read the HCl as pure water, pH of 7) we managed to conduct the experiment properly. The only thing was we experienced the “major jump” in pH value around 13 ml instead of 10 ml (which was what the lab manual stated should occur).

Graph:

pH of Neutralized Solution 12

10

pH Readigs

8

6

4

2

0

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Amount of NaOH (ml)

Conclusion: This lab comes to show how ocean acidification takes place. We already know the affects from other experiments and studies, but this shows more how this is

accomplished. Ocean water, being a base, does become neutralized with the all of the acidification that comes from CO2 emissions etc. The issue is, if too much acid enters our oceans, the ocean water will transform into an acidic solution and will have negative affect. As we seen before, acids destroy the bio diversity of our oceans and will eventually lead to humanities demise. In the end of the day, we need to take better care of our earth by lowering consumption, lowering emissions and even helping put forwards more environmentally friendly laws and legislations....