2. Introduction
Different environments are affected in various ways to flooding, but
the worst area to live in is at the bottom of a hill which is where all
the water will go. Throughout this experiment the different
absorption density and environments in the world to determine the
outcome. The materials are concrete, sand, dirt, and clay. The
terrains were chosen from average materials that people lived on or
materials that could work potentially as ground.
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3. Hypothesis
I hypothesized that clay will give off the greatest amount of water
dirt will give off the least. I feel the water will have separate effects
depending on the density of the terrain, for example harder
materials will let off more water while looser softer materials will
absorb and hold the water. The least water run off will come from
the dirt since it will have a lower density and also absorb the water
and be able to hold without releasing.
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4. Experimental Design
Variables:
Controlled variables: The slopes’ 150 degree angles the slopes
themselves, the 2 cups of water being use, 4 cups of each
material, and the four non absorbent sponges.
Independent variable: The terrain of the slopes
Dependent variable: The water Run-off
Groups:
Control group: Dirt
Experimental group #1:Sand
Experimental group #2:Cement
Experimental group #3:Clay
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6. Procedures
1. Gather identical two boxes and cut a square starting at the bottom up
4.5inches and across.
2. Gather four identical 16.5inch long slopes or any none traction surface
that can hold materials.
3. Stick the slopes through the hole to the top back of the box there
should be two per box.
4. Measure to make sure that it sticks out the top of the box by 6 inches.
5. Take a protractor and measure the slope to be 150 degrees inside the
box.
6. Stick non absorbent foam wedged between the box and the slope to
hold in water.
7. Place 4 Cups of each material separately among the slopes.
8. Get 2 Cups of water for each slope.
9. Pour the total 4 Cups of water over each slope.
10. Record findings.
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7. Mass
Volume
Sand- 2.16 lbs Cement - 3.6 lb
4 .54 Density 4 .9 Density
Dirt- .6 lbs Clay -1 lb
4 15 Density 4 .25 Density
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8. Analysis/Observation
Analysis:
Based on the finding of the graph it can be seen that throughout all
of these trails were very constant, this probably do the constant usage
of the same amount of every thing. It can also been seen that the
differences of the sand compared with the rest is quite extreme At
first I would believe it was the because the huge density differences,
after finding the densities I found they don’t match at all.
Observations:
It was believed thought that the absorption was based on the
density of the soil, but then the density graph and the absorption
graph would correspond. What I found is that their is major
connection in this case between the density and the amount of water
released.
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9. Discussion
I had predicted that clay would absorb the least amount of water
since it was like concrete but it had a smoother surface. And I had
believed Dirt would also do fine since it would be able to absorb large
amounts of water.
Before the experiment the densities of the terrains were checked, and
found that the dirt had the lowest density while concrete had the
highest. This was a part of my final choice and I also incorporated the
idea of the texture of the surface.
In the end it was seen that it the Sand had absorbed the most water
while clay had absorbed the least.
If anyone would like to retry this experiment I recommend
understanding the effects of different densities and amounts of a
material are effected when water is poured on.
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10. Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that sand did the absolute best
holding back the water, while clay did the worst. This is a surprise
to me because I believed that dirt was going to hold back the most
due to being able to hold water inside of itself. Though, I found that
sand can hold water and even though it slips through the cracks in
the sand can reshape to hold water much quicker than Dirt can. Plus
the pure concentrations of each material inside the slopes was
higher in sand due to me not adjusting the quantities to match in
weight.
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12. Bibliography
Floods. January 1, 2014, Retrieved from http://www.weather.gov/pbz/floods
Absorption. January 1, 2014. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/
absorption-info.htm
Howard Perlman (12/20/13). Runoff. January 1, 2014. Retrieved from http://
ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/runoff.html
(12/23/13) Flood Facts. January 1, 2014. Retrieved from http://www.floodsmart.gov/
floodsmart/pages/flood_facts.jsp18/2013).
Floods. January 1, 2014, retrieved from http://www.ready.gov/floods
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