SCI 207 WEEK 4 LAB 4 ENERGY SOURCES AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY - NEWLab 4 - Experiment 1: The Effects of Coal Mining

Table 1: pH of Water SamplesWater Sample Initial pH Final pH

Pyrite 5 5Activated Carbon 5 7

Water 5 5 

Hypothesis: The beaker with only water would be clear the carbon would turn black when added and

the other one will turn grey.

 

Post-Lab Questions

1. Restate your hypothesis. Was it confirmed or denied? How do you know?The beaker with only water would be clear the carbon would turn black when added and the other

one will turn grey. The beaker with water stayed clear so that was confirmed. The beaker that the

carbon was added to did not turn black so that was denied. I know due to the carbon sank to the

bottom and some floated on top. The third beaker did not turn grey. that was also denied. The pyrite

sank to the bottom with a little floating at the surface of the water.

1. What, if any, change did you observe within your water samples?The changes that I observed was that the pyrite was at the bottom and a handful of the particles

formed little balls. The water was a light shade of grey. The Carbon stayed mostly on the bottom with

a handful of them on top of the surface and the water had a tint of black. The water remained clear

but had air bubbles in the beaker.

1. What type of substance formed in the jars?The substance I would have to say was the ball formation of the pyrite and the air bubbles in the

water.

1. What effect do you predict coal mining has on the environment?

I would have to say that from the reading that it can be very harmful for the coal mining chemicals to

seep into the ground into our drinking water.

1. What can be done to prevent mine drainage from damaging the ecosystem?Maybe putting in some weeping system that would pull the water to a different location that could

drain into a container of some sort.