As temperature increases the level of turbidity increases - Lab Report Example

Experiment to determine the effects of temperature on water turbidity Background The quality of water is very essential for aquatic life. There are a variety of things believed to affect the aquatic life. To give an example the amount of oxygen in water determines the survival of aquatic organisms, the temperature also determines which animals will survive in a particular place. Nutrients dissolved in it determine survival of aquatic organisms not to exclude turbidity, these mentioned factors greatly determine the survival of aquatic organisms.

Millan, Ashly Suggests that turbidity is the measure of the extent of cloudiness in water (p. 107). It can be said that it is the measure of how much light can pass on the water, and this may be influenced by suspending matter in the water; these may be sediments, organic matter, eroded soil, silt, industrial waste to mention a few. The particles resting at the bottom of water may also be stirred up by water movement, people or storm runoff. With levels of turbidity may indicate the water is unhealthy for aquatic life as light will not easily penetrate to the bottom.

Introduction:Temperature may determine the conditions in which matter exists. Minute temperature changes in water may change the conditions and thus make the aquatic life hard to survive in. Temperature changes may also result from deforestation thus allowing more sun to directly shine in the water. Factories and other power plants use water as a coolant and later discharge it back to water sources, this changes the water temperatures. The above reasons were the inspiration for this experiment.

The purpose of the experiment: The main purpose of this experiment was to determine determine temperature affect turbidity in water. Hypothesis :My hypothesis was that increase in temperature increases turbidity in water.Experimental design: The independent variable was the temperature, whereas the dependent variable was turbidityMaterialProcedureThe results: The results demonstrate that at 40 degrees Celsius the lowest level of turbidity were recorded. An average reading of 21.65 in the turbidimeter was recorded.

At 10 degrees Celsius an average turbidity of 21.65 was noted, at 30 degrees Celsius an average of 21.72 value was recorded, our control was 20 degree Celsius which recorded a reading of 22.38Conclusion: My hypothesis was that when temperatures increase turbidity of water also increases, this hypothesis should not be accepted as the results recorded did not show any correlation between the water samples taken and the level of turbidity.Factors that may have affected the results: The weather may have affected the results, the surroundings also may be a source of variation of the results.

Recommendations: In the future this experiment should be done in a well controlled environment where the surrounding or confounding variables are well controlled so that they do not have an influence on the experiment.Reference"WATER TESTING RESULTS." WATER TESTING RESULTS. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. .Millan, Ashly. Water Quality Data Newfoundland, 1981-1985. Ottawa: Inland Waters Directorate, Atlantic Region, Water Quality Branch, 1988. Print.Parker, Gary, and Coastal River. River, Coastal, and Estuarine Morphodynamics: RCEM 2005, Proceeding of the 4th IAHR Symposium on River, Coastal, and Estuarine Morphodynamics, 4-7 October 2005, Urbana, Illinois, USA.

London: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.