For the second Milestone of our Water class, we were asked to look at water contamination and the detrimental results it can have. I tested whether drinking water with Windex would be safe, and, naturally, found out that it was not.
Introduction:
Contaminated water is killing a huge portion of the population. Water is so important to human survival and when that water is tainted, naturally or on purpose, there are huge repercussions and it can take years for the source to purify itself. To try and determine the effect that household items and cleaners could have if consumed, this experiment focuses on whether it is safe or not to drink water mixed with Windex.
Hypothesis:
Water will have a lower pH than water combined with windex and is not safe to consume.
Methods and Materials:
Materials:
- Tap water
- Glass 1- 8 oz.
- Glass 2- 4 oz.
- Windex
- Glass 2- 4 oz.
- 2 glasses
- Measuring glass
- pH strips
Methods:
- Fill one glass with 8 ounces of tap water.
- Fill a second glass with 4 ounces of tap water and 4 ounces of Windex.
- Dip pH strip into water.
- Measure color against color scale of pH.
- Repeat 9 more times with tap water.
- Dip pH strip into water with Windex.
- Measure color against color scale of pH.
- Repeat 9 more times in the tap water with Windex.
Results:
The testing of the pH of plain tap water gave me results ranging from 6.5-7.5 with a standard deviation of approximately .27 and an average of 6.95. Water mixed with Windex gave me pH results ranging from 9.5-10.5, resulting in a standard deviation of about .4 and an average of 9.85. The calculation of the confidence interval on the low end was 2.69, while they high was about 3.11.
Discussion:
This experiment showed that it is not safe to drink water that has Windex in it. We see this in the confidence level because the low and high do not surround zero therefore the two are statistically different and drinking Windex water is unsafe. I struggled most with trying to figure out how to write my actual introduction because I didn’t understand the greater relevance of whether drinking Windex was safe because of the basic sense one needs to avoid this. I think that this experiment was precise and accurate overall and feel good about my results and the math done to accompany them. In terms of next steps, I would like to see what amount, if there is any, of Windex that in 8 ounces of water would be safe to consume and perhaps also try out a couple other different household products in the experiment as well.