In this project we had to answer "How can we use Chemistry to support the chemical treatment of wastewater and various clean water initiatives?" Our group decided to do desalination which is the process of taking salts out of water in order for it to be safe water to drink.
Content:
Solution- a liquid mixture
Solute- a substance dissolved in another substance
Solvent- able to dissolve other substance
pH- measures the acidity or alkalinity of a water substance, it is measure on a scale of 0-14 and 7 is considered neutral. The lower numbers are considered a acidic while the higher the numbers are a basic.
TDS- Total Dissolved Salts
Down below is the document where our group brainstormed our ideas. We had everything planned out in order for us to have the data back quickly. This also insured that everyone was on the same page and that there were no misunderstandings because for two weeks we had testing which meant that the majority of our group were not going to be there.
Content:
Solution- a liquid mixture
Solute- a substance dissolved in another substance
Solvent- able to dissolve other substance
pH- measures the acidity or alkalinity of a water substance, it is measure on a scale of 0-14 and 7 is considered neutral. The lower numbers are considered a acidic while the higher the numbers are a basic.
TDS- Total Dissolved Salts
Down below is the document where our group brainstormed our ideas. We had everything planned out in order for us to have the data back quickly. This also insured that everyone was on the same page and that there were no misunderstandings because for two weeks we had testing which meant that the majority of our group were not going to be there.
In order to know how to make salt water we had to convert the moles to liters. Since we only had sodium chloride and magnesium sulfate we had to add up the molar masses for each. This allowed us to find out the amount of grams needed to make an actual representation of salt water.
Reflection:
This project was certainly the most productive. Since we had about 4 weeks where people were going in and out due to CAASPP testing and AP testing we were very proactive with our time. One down fall of this was that not everyone collaborated equally. I personally felt that I was taking charge because we had limited time, but I wished that I included everyone and encouraged them to participate. Also communication was lacking. There was a group member who was working on their own and that person put something on the slides and when the rest of the group came back we didn't know what to do with the new information. I learned that I work well when there is a limited amount of time because it allows me to plan out everything that needs to be done and actually get it done. One of the greatest accomplishments is when we finally got it to work and turn salt water into actual drinking water. It was our last trial and we had everything down and it was the best because in earlier trials the water all smelled like plastic but this one did not and we tested the pH and found that it was safe to drink. We drank some and passed it to another group tried it. This showed that the experiment was successful and it tasted like actual water.