Chlorine Concentration and Soybean Germination
Medium
How much chlorine in water does it take to stop seeds from sprouting? Many countries use chlorine to purify drinking water. Farmers then use that same water on their crops. Soybeans are one of the most important crops worldwide.
You plant soybean seeds in six groups. Each group gets water with a different chlorine concentration, from zero up to 10 milliliters per liter. After five days you count how many seeds germinated in each group.
The control group reached 90 percent germination. The highest chlorine group dropped to just 46 percent. Even the lowest dose reduced germination compared to plain water.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the 10-milliliter chlorine mixture will prevent 50% or more of the seeds from germinating.
Method & Materials
You will label planters and water containers, fill the planters with sand, plant the seeds, set up a growth light, mix chlorine solutions, and water the seeds.
You will need 3 graduated cylinders, 1,296 soybean seeds, 1 gallon of chlorine, 6 72 cup garden planters, a marker, a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, 6 1 gallon water containers, a bag of pure chemical free playground sand, and a growth light.
Results
The results of the experiment showed that 90% of the soybeans in the control group germinated, 82% of the soybean seeds in the 0.0625ml group germinated, 75% of the soybean seeds in the 1.25ml group germinated, 72% of the soybean seeds in the 2.5ml group germinated, 60% of the soybean seeds in the 5.0ml group germinated, and 46% of the soybean seeds in the 10.0ml group germinated. This shows that the 10-milliliter chlorine mixture did prevent 50% or more of the seeds from germinating.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how chlorine can affect the germination of soybean seeds, which is important for farmers and anyone involved in agriculture.
Also Consider
To further this experiment, you could try watering a group with 0.03125ml or 0.015625ml of chlorine to see if the results are better or worse. You could also try watering a group with 15ml or 20ml of chlorine to see how much of the group would germinate.
Full project details
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