Science 3.11 - Lab Report Example

How to clean oil spills Problem ment Oil is the most common ocean pollutant. Every year more than three millionmetrics of oil contaminate the sea. Ships contribute to a third of this pollution with the rest originating from the land. Oil spills from ships and barges contribute to approximately 15% of the total oil in the ocean. Oil contaminates the water and causes death to sea animals. It is prone to continue as ships and barges continue sailing in the water and of the importance is how to clean up the spills the moment they occur.

Oil is less dense than water, and it hence floats on water which makes cleaning easier as compared to if it were denser than water. This paper outlines a procedure for cleaning up oil spills in the sea. Hypothesis: Paper towels are the best oil spill clean-up strategy.Materials Container for mixing oil and water, Oil (vegetable oil), Water, Graduated cylinder, Styrofoam, Paper towel, Cotton balls, Feathers and Dish detergentLab Procedure1. Using the graduated cylinder measure 150 milliliters of water, to represent ocean water, and pour it into the cylinder. 2. Use the graduated cylinder to measure 20 milliliters of oil, pour it in the cylinder containing water, the oil should float on the water hence covering its surface. 3. First use the cotton ball to clean up the oil from the surface of the water. 4. Dip one feather into the water containing oil spill and the other into the cleaned up water and observe the difference. 5. Using the water mixed with oil from procedure 1 and 2, use Styrofoam to clean up the oil spill and make observations6.

Perform other experiment using dish detergent and paper towel to clean up the oil spill and make observations.7. Compare a feather dipped in the oil water and the cleaned up water to see the difference. Data collected All the four methods helped in cleaning up the water. The feather dipped in oil and water mixture was different from the one dipped in the oil spill cleaned water. There were challenges of what to do with the oils spill after it was collected from the water. The cotton balls absorbed water as well as the oil.

The dish detergent only broke the oil and it does not remove the oil from the water while use of Styrofoam is time consuming, and they also act as pollutants. The home clean-up process is easier as compared to the one in the ocean since there are wind and currents in the ocean which causes the oil spill to move and at times mix with the water making the clean up difficult. Analysis Use of paper towels in cleaning up oil spills is more effective as compared to other methods. They absorb the oil without absorbing water as compared to the cotton balls.

They are also faced with the challenge of what to do with the collected oil spills, which may be broken down using the dish detergent. Conclusion Oil spill in oceans and seas is a universal tragedy that is causing environmental pollution and death of marine creatures. There is a need to adopt an oil cleaning procedure that will clean oil spills as soon as they occur and prevent their adverse impacts. I would recommend modification of the paper towel to enable application in large ships and water vessels to enable clean up which will not only be cheap but also easy.

ReferenceFingas, Merv. The Basics of Oil Clean Up. 3rd Ed. Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis Group, 2013. Print.