Week 9: May 29, 2015

This is the ninth meeting of the laboratory group in class. This meeting is the final in class meeting before final deliverables and presentations the following Friday, during week 10. The group's focus during this period was to run final tests using all three materials, because there is no access to these materials again until the final deliverables presentation. During the presentation, the instructor will be combining all three materials and hoping to see completely clear water fall through the filter. This means that the copper blue color, the nile red color and the aluminum fibers would all have been filtered out. The main issue that resided was still the nile red color, as it was still coming out as a pink. The filter was tested during the laboratory period and a light pink color was still filtering through. After performing more research a possible issue was that the charcoal in the filter currently was not "activated". The group researched that activation can occur using an acid and also baking in the oven at high temperatures. Because a furnace reaching thousands of degrees was not accessible, the acid was combined with the baking process. Outside of the laboratory period, lemon juice was purchased. The charcoal was baked at the highest possible temperature of 550 degrees with lemon juice mixed within it. It was baked for thirty minutes--a time that was researched to be successful. The newly 'activated' charcoal was not tested because the group had no access to nile red dye. So, the first time the activated charcoal will be tested is during the presentation. In addition to the activated charcoal, the group also reassembled the filter. More volume of each substance within the filter was added--including more charcoal, more sand, more gravel, and more cloth.