Carter, Madison

Henderson, Ja\u27Mea

Patish, Jessica

Rhoten, Melissa C.

Sawyer, Zoe

English

Longwood University

Longwood University Digital Commons @ Longwood University Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry Office of Student Research Spring 2023 The Nitrate Project: An Analysis of Water Samples Madison Carter Longwood University Ja'Mea Henderson Longwood University Jessica Patish Longwood University Zoe Sawyer Longwood University Melissa C. Rhoten Longwood University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/rci_spring Recommended Citation Carter, Madison; Henderson, Ja'Mea; Patish, Jessica; Sawyer, Zoe; and Rhoten, Melissa C., "The Nitrate Project: An Analysis of Water Samples" (2023). Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry. 209. https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/rci_spring/209 This Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Student Research at Digital Commons @ Longwood University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Longwood University. For more information, please contact alwinehd@longwood.edu. 1.0 mL of HCl, 1.0 mL sulfalinic acid solution, and 2.5 g of Zn/NaCl powder were added to all water samples.Solutions were stirred for 7 minutes and filtered. The filtrates were collected in 100-mL volumetric flasks.1.0 mL of naphthylamine hydrochloride and 1.0 mL sodium acetate reagents were added to all flasks.The solutions were allowed to sit for 10 minutes. Each solution was diluted to the mark with deionized water.The Vernier SpectroVisspectrometer was calibrated, and the visible spectrum was collected for all solutions. The analysis was conducted using the absorbance at 522 nm.ReferencesThe Nitrate Project: An Analysis of Water SamplesMadison Carter, Ja’Mea Henderson, Jessica Patish, Zoe SawyerISCI 121 Entering Research II; Faculty Mentor: Melissa RhotenResults & DiscussionResearch Question1. CBF, Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 2022. “State of the Bay Report 2022.” (accessed February 3, 2023).2. Laws and Regulations. EPA. 1974. “Summary of the Safe Drinking Water Act”,42 U.S.C. §300f et seq. Access at: https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-safe-drinking-water-act3. Nelson, J. L.; Kurtz, L. T.; Bray, H. (1954). “Rapid determination of nitrates and nitrites”, Analytical Chemistry, 26, 1081-1082.MethodsIntroductionHow do scientists determine the nitrate content of water samples?• The Chesapeake Bay, an important coastal body of water, is a watershed that spans thousands of miles ranging from Maryland to New York.1• Nitrate (NO3-) is necessary for plant growth, but when in excess can lead to polluted waterways and eutrophication. Eutrophication causes a significant increase in aquatic plant growth, such as algae, which can result in the creation of dead zones.• Excess nitrate is also harmful to human health, which can be found in both water and food.• The Safe Water Drinking Act states that 10 ppm is the safe level for nitrates in water.2lmax = 522 nmsulfanilic acidFigure 1. Schematic diagram of the modified Griess reaction.• Figure 2 shows the visible spectrum for the colored complex, which directly relates to nitrate levels in the samples.• The calibration curve was used to determine nitrate concentration by plugging in absorbance values from samples in for “y“ and solving for “x”.• The percent error could have been caused by allowing samples to sit for too long before collecting absorbance data.• Without multiple trials, this left room for error.• Most of the samples are considered safe, except for Environmental Sample #3.Figure 3. Calibration curve for standard solutions. The equation of the straight line was y = 0.0241x - 0.0127.Water SampleExperimental Nitrate Concentration (ppm)Actual Nitrate Concentration (ppm)% errorEnvironmental Sample #12.2 1.2 83Environmental Sample #26.6 4.0 65Environmental Sample #311.0 14.0 -21Perrier 6.4 7.3-7.8 -12 to -18San Pellegrino 5.8 2.2 164Evian 6.6 3.8 74Table 1. Nitrate Concentrations and % error of Water SamplesFigure 2. Visible absorbance spectrum for the colored complex.Using Beer's law and visible spectrometry, various drinking water and environmental samples had their nitrate levels tested.Beer’s LawA = ebcA= absorbance, e=molar absorptivity, b=path length, c=concentrationA modified version of the Griess reaction3 (Figure 1) was used to determine the nitrate concentration in environmental and drinking water samples.

The Nitrate Project: An Analysis of Water Samples

https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1209&context=rci_spring

The Nitrate Project: An Analysis of Water Samples

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Longwood University