For this project, our group had to pick a leading question about water to guide our research. We chose the question: How is drinking water treated? With this as our guide, we decided to do research on the topic in order to create our very own water filtration system to help us understand the process better, as well as improvements that can be made.
Our Presentation
Content
Solute: Minor solution component, dissolved in solvent. Solution: A liquid mixture in which the minor (solute) component is distributed uniformly within the major (solvent) component. Polarity: How atoms connect with each other. They share electrons when atoms come together in chemical bonding. When one of the atoms exerts a stronger attractive force on the bond's electrons, a polar molecule arises. Electrolytes: An ion-containing liquid or gel that may be decomposed by electrolysis, e.g. present in a battery. Non-electrolytes: a substance that does not exist in an ionic form in aqueous solution. Organic matter: Matter that came from a living organism recently. Solubility: The ability to dissolve in water in particular. Virus: An infectious agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat is too small to be seen by light microscopy and can multiply an infectious agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat only within thehost's living cells, is too small to be seen by light microscopy and can only multiply within the host's living cells. Bacteria: A member of a large group of unicellular microorganisms with cell walls but lacking in organelles and an organized nucleus, some of which may cause illness. Ph: Measurement of concentration of hydrogen ions, measurement of solution acidity or alkalinity. Ph scale: Acidity or alkalinity of water-soluble substances (pH means ' hydrogen potential '). A pH value is a number between 1 and 14, with middle (neutral) point being 7. Values below 7 show acidity that increases as the number decreases, the most acidic of which is 1. separation: A field with a large number of applications in both industry and the environment is the separation of particles or droplets from a flow.
Reflection
This was a very enjoyable and multi-faceted project to work on. I learned a lot about how our everyday drinking water is treated, as well as the structural components of the hardware used to treat said water. However, although my group had our strengths, there were also difficulties that we ran into.
My groups best trait was that we all had really good chemistry. We were familiar with each other, having worked together on other projects, and this allowed for us to work together rather seamlessly in regards to building. It helped me to realize that I work my best when I'm with people that I'm comfortable with, and I can say the same for my group mates. Another good trait that we had was that we worked really quickly, but efficiently, within the first couple of days, we had a concept set and were working on building it, as well as improving it upon testing.
However, there were some drawbacks. One of which was that we didn't distribute work evenly. This was partly my fault too, as I didn't make take the initiative to make sure everyone was accounted for and doing even work. I realize now that to improve next time, I can take the time to work on my leadership skills, as well as my teammates. Another pit we had was that not all of our group was on the same page, some of us didn't do as much work as the others thought they should've. In the future, I will try and work on communicating better to eliminate this kind of problem.