Title: Measurement of CO2 from Car Exhaust Statement of the Problem: What vehicle produces the most carbon dioxide (CO2)? Hypothesis: We believe that the Mercury Sable will release the most CO2 because it has the most number of cylinders, which is six, compared to the other car types. Materials: ?BTB indicator Solution ?File Folder ?Marker ?Plastic Cup ?Plastic Syringe ?Soda bottle ?Stopwatch ?Tape ?Vehicle exhaust Procedure: A. Preparation 1) Roll the file folder into a funnel. B. Sample Collection 1. Go outside to the parking lot with file folder, bottle water and cap, and a stopwatch.
2. Take the cap off the bottle. DO NOT LOSE THE CAP! 3. Hold the larger side of the funnel at the end of the vehicle’s muffler and hold the smaller side at the mouth of the water bottle, leaving a small space in between. 4. Collect the vehicle’s exhaust for two minutes. 5. QUICKLY put the cap back on and seal it tightly. 6. Return to the classroom. C. Data Collect 1. Make sure the plastic syringe is clear of any container. 2. Divide the team responsibilities with your partner: Student Responsibility Pati Bottle and cap Maria Plastic and syringe 3.
Take the cap off and insert the plastic syringe. 4. Press the bottle and carefully remove air by pulling the plunger on the syringe back. 5. Quickly place the cap back on and seal it tightly. 6. Insert the tip of t he syringe into the cup and release 25mL of exhaust into the BTB solution by pushing the syringe plunger. D. Data analysis 1. Compare the color of the BTB solution in your own cup with the other two teams who tested the other vehicles. 2. Rank the cups based on the color of the BTB solution. Data: Vehicle Type Color of BTB solution CO2 Concentration.
Compact Car Blue Low Mid-size car Blue Low Mid-size car Blue Low Vehicle Type Year Model Number of Cylinders Mercury 2002 Sable 6 Nissan 2000 Altima 4 Dodge 2008 Caliber 4 Analysis: 1. Which of the three vehicles produced the most carbon dioxide? All three vehicles produced the same amount of carbon dioxide. 2. Was your hypothesis correct? No 3. Explain your results: My hypothesis was not correct since they all produced the same amount of CO2. All the cars were around the same date and they all seemed to be well maintained. 4.
What was the variable in this experiment? The variable in this experiment were the cars and the amount of CO2 it produced. ’ 5. What are the controls in this experiment? In this experiment, the controls were the water bottle, folder funnels, stopwatch, BTB solution, and plastic syringe. 6. In your team, what kind of vehicles does your family drive? Do you think each vehicle produces more or less CO2 than the vehicle your team tested today? Why? Type of Vehicle More or Less CO2 Explanation Toyota (1996) More CO2 It is an older model compared to the ones we tested.
Blazer (2001) Less CO2 It is around the same year as the vehicles we tested. Honda Accord (2006) Less CO2 It is a newer model than the ones we tested. Dodge (2012) Less CO2 The newest model and it is a Doge. 7. Can you think of what else you could test or investigate after doing this experiment? What other variables could you compare? We could try to use balloons instead of water bottles and a closed in container to hold the BTB to ensure the CO2 makes it into the BTB.
Con clusion: To conclude, our hypothesis was not correct since all the cars released the same amount of CO2, which was a low concentration despite having a different number of cylinders and being a different type. All the models, which ranged from the years 2000-2008 had the same color of BTB solution. It could have been because all the cars new and well kept. I learned how to measure CO2 from a car and this could help because I will know if my car is working well and if I am helping keeping the planet green. Some experimental errors that could have occurred are the material we used to keep the CO2 emissions, which was a bottle, and the syringe we used.