Water PH - (Dec/02/2006 )
My friend helped me find an idea for a science fair project & my teacher said it was a good project idea & she told me that I should use plants... my idea topic was "Does soil affect Waters PH level?"[u]... but, the thing is I dont really understand wat my project is about and how i'll do it. So can sum1 please help me by tellin me wat they think the projects about? thanks. 
plant + soil + water pH?
1) plants' uptake of nutrients in water changes water pH?
2) sedimented phosphate in soil?
3) nutrient binding properties of different soils (eg phosphate by silica and allumina)?
i really don't know??????
thanks.
What are the affects of soil pH on water's pH level?
if the soil contains lots of phosphate, the water tend to be acidic - just an eg.
This website could help you with info and protocols www.globe.gov
[quote name='idlewild' date='Dec 4 2006, 12:13 AM' post='79586']
[quote name='Carv' post='79489' date='Dec 3 2006, 09:33 AM']
My friend helped me find an idea for a science fair project & my teacher said it was a good project idea & she told me that I should use plants... my idea topic was "Does soil affect Waters PH level?"[u]... but, the thing is I dont really understand wat my project is about and how i'll do it. So can sum1 please help me by tellin me wat they think the projects about? thanks.
[/quote]
If it doesn't make sense to you -- don't do it! Pick a science project that is something you would like. That's very important! That's the point of science fairs.
The project you are describing could probably be pretty cool, though. You could plant one seed in each of several pots and water each plant with different water with different pHs to see if that affects their ability to grow. I know that doesn't involve the soil (you would use the same soil for each), but it might be interesting. pH is basically (ha, ha) a measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. Water is "normally" neutral, about a 7. The pH scale is 1-14.
Hope that helps!
Carv: Keep it simple!!!!
The problem of the majority science fair project is that the students are push by everybody to do a super mega project NASA type and forget the objective of science fair. The first step is to think what you really like, then follow the scientific method to answer the question. If you like the pH project you could do one of the followings:
1.pH of the soil and how it affect plant growth (for that you could find several types of soil that have diffent pH and plant beans (their cheap and easy to grow).
2.pH of soil and how it affects the pH of water (for that you could find several types of soil that have diffent pH and add distilled water pH7.0 (buy in a pharmacy) and then check if there is a change in the pH.
3.Contaminants that affect pH of the soil (1 type of soil and add chemical waste like detergents, oils, etc and check if there is a change in pH.
Check the website that I told you it has the protocol to check soil's pH.
P.S. Don't forget the negative controls.
If you want design the experiment and post it or email me to make sure it is right.