Acid Rain... Bad for Coral Reef

Overview

The purpose of this project is to find the percentage weight loss of limestone, hard coral, and mushroom coral when in carbonic acid and mushroom coral in hydrochloric acid. Carbonic and hydrochloric acid are both acids in the ocean that are bad for the oceanic plants and animals. Limestone is a sedimentary rock when effected with carbonic acid, will deteriorate. Hard coral and mushroom coral are both warm, salt water corals. In this project, 27 beakers of carbonic acid were filled with the pHs of either 5.5, 5.0, or 4.5. 12 beakers of hydrochloric acid were filled with the pHs of either 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, or 3.0. The limestone and coral were then weighed and results were recorded. Then, the specimens were placed in appropriate beakers. This process continued on for six weeks. After analyzing data, it was concluded that there is no significant difference among the pH level and the specimen according to ANOVA. However, the mushroom coral lost the most percent in mass, then hard coral, and the limestone lost the least. It was also incorrect to compare the carbonic acid and the hydrochloric acid due to the difference of solution.

Competition history

• ISEF 2014 Materials Science · Entry EV027

Resources

• ISEF abstract page ↗

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