Ion Exchange vs. Filtering

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective is to learn if a cation exchange column purfies water more effeciently than a mircron filter. Methods/Materials To conduct my experiment I used pond water, a mircron filter, a cation exchange column, beakers and a hot plate. My method was to compare pond water processed through a cation exchanger vs a micron filter. The raw pond water was used to show what unprocessed water looked like compared to processed water. After the water was processed it was evaporated and the residue was visually compared. Results After testing my hypothesis 5 times I came to the conclusion that my hypothesis was correct 100% of the time. The results showed that the cation exchange column filters water more efficiently than a micron filter. Conclusions/Discussion The main ingredient in a cation exchange column is a cation resin. Each bead of resin has millions of exchange sites on it. The exchange sites are filted with sodium. In the process of purification the sodium is exchanged with the impurities in the water. This removes both dissolved and solid impurities. The micron filter only removed the solid impurities.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Chemistry · Entry J0527

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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