Discussion of Results
In our hypothesis we stated that "If our four materials are efficient then the materials will contain and absorb the oil on the water." I believe that our hypothesis was indeed correct. We were successful in cleaning an estimated 95% of all the oil we were presented with.
The reason we used the dish soap to break apart the oil was because we noticed that the dish soap sank to the bottom of the container, meaning that it would create the desired barrier around the oil. We used the paper towel to push the oil to corner because that way we would have less chance of the oil slipping away. The independent variable in this experiment was the materials because they would effect the dependent variable which was the amount of oil contained and absorbed. The controlled variables, the variables that stayed the same throughout the entire experiment, were the amount of water that was being used and the size of the contained we used to hold the water.
However we originally thought that the baking soda & vinegar would have been more predominate in containing the oil. Given our inability to conduct research prior to this Experiment and the limited variety of materials we were unable to have an informed choose of materials to use. Other than that the outcome of the experiment was approximate to our original idea of what was going to happen. In the future if we were to complete this experiment again I would use a bigger container as to insure that the oil wouldn't cling to the sides because of the difficulty of removing it. Also replace the baking soda & vinegar and dish soap with any other materials that were available.
The reason we used the dish soap to break apart the oil was because we noticed that the dish soap sank to the bottom of the container, meaning that it would create the desired barrier around the oil. We used the paper towel to push the oil to corner because that way we would have less chance of the oil slipping away. The independent variable in this experiment was the materials because they would effect the dependent variable which was the amount of oil contained and absorbed. The controlled variables, the variables that stayed the same throughout the entire experiment, were the amount of water that was being used and the size of the contained we used to hold the water.
However we originally thought that the baking soda & vinegar would have been more predominate in containing the oil. Given our inability to conduct research prior to this Experiment and the limited variety of materials we were unable to have an informed choose of materials to use. Other than that the outcome of the experiment was approximate to our original idea of what was going to happen. In the future if we were to complete this experiment again I would use a bigger container as to insure that the oil wouldn't cling to the sides because of the difficulty of removing it. Also replace the baking soda & vinegar and dish soap with any other materials that were available.