Voiceover

Presenter(s)

AbdulAzeez Abdillahi

Abstract or Description

Literature Review

Background 

Where I come from, in Africa, people garden and grow crops to eat from or to sell in the market. This last summer, I visited my family for 2 months in Africa, and I saw them grow plants. When I saw how dirty the soil looked and watched as they put perfectly clean water into this dirty soil, I wondered if the soil was polluting the water and contaminating the plants. I decided that for my next Science Fair Project, I would study and really find out if my hypothesis is correct or not. The U.S grows up to $176.5 billion worth of food and agriculture each year. If we find out which soil is best, we could then allow for more crops to grow as well as healthier and better food to grow. We can also make sure that the soil that we are using to grow is not dirty.

Water and pH

PH is a unit that represents the amount of acidity that there is in something. It can be used for testing soil to testing water. The lower the pH, the higher the acidity level. Some pH scales are for soil while others are for water. Some pH scales stop at 3.5 while others stop at 0. Regardless of the different scales, they all have the same use, which is to find the acidity level of things such as water and soil. When water mixes with something that is different from water itself, its pH changes. If it is something impure and dirty, then the pH will go down. If it is slightly acidic, the pH will go slightly down, and if it is something that purifies water, then its pH will go up. “If water has a higher proportion of hydrogen ions, it is acidic and has a pH less than 7. If it has a higher number of hydroxyl ions, then it is alkaline and has a pH of greater than 7”.(Mclaughlin, 2022)The test is to see the difference between the water mixed with the soil and the water mixed with regular water. If the pH of water goes down when soil interacts with it, then this means that the soil pollutes the water and is thus not suitable for plants to use. If the pH of the water does not change, then the soil is not a pollutant nor a purifier. If the pH of the water goes up when the soil is interacting with it, then the soil actually helps the water and is not polluting the plant. These results will help farmers choose the soil that has the least negative effect on the water that is being used to water the plants.” A pH soil meter must be used properly. First, a bucket full of water must be sprinkled onto the soil and left for 20-30 minutes long. Then the soil meter should be rid of the oily impurities.” (Takemura, 2011)

Soils and Their Properties

Now all soils aren't created equal. For example, sand soil absorbed water way better than the clay soil, which let the water seep through it. The top soil was very interesting because the water would soak in but then come back up and just stay at the top of the tube, not coming back down. It would also carry a top layer of soil with it on its way to the top of the sediment tube. The next step would be to dump the different soils into a coffee filter and wait until all the water soaked in through the filter. When the clay soil was poured all the water that was hiding came out and went into the filter. When the water was poured in the same tube as the topsoil, a lot of soil came rushing out of the tube with the water. This was because of the fact that the water had a layer of soil on top of it. The hardest one to pour was the sand soil since the water was soaked in by the soil. The test was interesting because of all of the different variables that affected the simpleness of the procedure, some adjustments are necessary to make this project complete and successful.

The Runoff Filters

“When a pH meter is used for testing liquids, there cannot be solid objects in the same liquid that is being tested by the pH meter. So, a coffee filter is being used to catch all of the excess soil while letting the polluted water slip through the filter and be tested.”(How Does Soil Affect the pH of Water?,2022) To make sure that the filter does not fall into the small container, it is taped onto the bowl to make sure that the filter does not fall in the bowl or make a mess. However, any filter works as long as it keeps all of the excess material out of the bowl. Then the pH of this “ soil liquid” is taken to determine the effect of each soil on the pH of water.

How to Use a pH Meter and Paper

“To use a pH paper, take the paper and dip it in the liquid that is being tested. Then take it out and compare its color to the colors on the chart which is located on the box. There will be numbers on the box. The lower the number, the higher the pH.”(Ajithkumarmanghat, 2015)To use a pH meter, it must be turned on. Then it must be dipped in the liquid that is being tested. Keep in mind that the liquid being tested cannot have any debris in it as this will affect the results. Then the number that appears on the device is the pH of this liquid. This cannot be used for testing the pH of solids, only liquids. Some pH meters and papers are different in scale. But they are all used to find the pH of different liquids.