IsNitrogenin the Hudson River?

Materials/Procedures:

This is the way we tested to see how much Nitrates were present in the Hudson River: We first filled our test tube up to the 2.5-milliliter line with Hudson River water sample; we did this to have a controlled sample of the river that we could observe. Then, we diluted our sample with 2.5 milliliters of "Mixed Acid" and waited 2 minutes so that it could have time to mix. After that, we used the 0.1 g spoon to add in 0.1 grams of Nitrate Reducing -Reagent, which is poisonous. We capped our test tube and shook it about once every 2 seconds for 1 minute. We then waited for our mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Our sample turned color-- which revealed how much nitrates were present. We determined the amount of Nitrates by putting our sample into the axial reader and comparing it to nitrate sample colors. To convert the amount of Nitrates into the amount of Nitrogen present, we multiplied our reading by 4.4 and recorded our number as "ppm nitrate".

Nitrogen Kit: 1 test tube 2.5 ml of Hudson river water 2.5 ml of Mixed acid 1 Axial reader 0.1 gram spoon 0.b1 gram of Nitrate R poison 1 pipette

Why are we Testing?

The reason we are testing to see how much Nitrogen is present in the Hudson River is because we want to see whether or not the river is healthy. If there is too much Nitrogen in our river, it's unhealthy for life in and around the river. Although Nitrogen is good for plants and farming, it doesn't necessarily mean its good for animals or us. When nitrogen is in water, it literally "chokes" the life in the river, causing animals to die. Nitrogen can also be harmful to humans in greater amounts as well as babies. A syndrome called "Blue Baby Syndrome" is caused by excess amounts of Nitrogen.

The picture to the right is a picture of the nitrogen cycle. Click on it to enlarge the image. Nitrogen is an atmospheric gas. People inhale about 70% of nitrogen. Nitrogen is not harmful to the human body. Since people inhale 70% of nitrogen, when they die and their bodies decompose, the nitrogen in their bodies seep into the ground. Nitrogen can also be found in wastes that come from factories. When factories overload wastes into the ground, there is excess nitrogen. This becomes a problem because nitrogen attracts algae. The more nitrogen the more algae. The algae will travel through the nitrogen cycle and will end up in the water. Nitrogen travels in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, nitrogen has to be fixed. It can't travel alone. Nitrogen when fixed becomes ammonia and ammonium. Nitrogen gets into the ground two ways. 1. Through decomposing bodies and animals. Nitrogen when in the ground creates a rock layer. 2. When it rains the nitrogen in the water also lands in the ground. Once nitrogen is in the ground, plants absorb it. It travels through the plants and then when the plant transpires, it evaporates into the air. Then the nitrogen cycle starts all over again.

Results: When doing our test water through the water test to detect nitrogen, we observed the color of the water. It was a light to medium magenta. By analyzing other water samples that had colors, we found about the amount of nitrogen in the water. We found the nitrates in the water to be 1. We then multiplied 1 by 4.4 and got 4.4 ppm nitrates. This was the total amount of Nitrogen present in the water. This test was semi-accurate, because by comparing the different colors, we were objectively deciding which color our sample matched with the best. Considering that New York City determines any amount of nitrogen content over 10 ppm nitrate to be unhealthy for us, the water in the Hudson river is fairly safe. We have nothing to worry about the nitrogen content in the Hudson.

Discussion Q's: 1. Where does nitrogen originate? Nitrogen originates from the atmosphere. Nitrogen travels with the compound nitrate. 2. Is nitrogen needed for life? Specify. Nitrogen is very much needed for life. Humans inhale about 70% of nitrogen. People need oxygen to survive and they also help the nitrogen cycle to keeps in going. 3. Is nitrogen hazardous for life? Specify. Nitrogen is actually very healthy for life, as we've stated before. Nitrogen only becomes hazardous when the level is over 10 ppm. It ca also become hazardous when it seeps into the ground and mixes with other components. 4. Describe efforts to remove excess nitrogen. Excess nitrogen cannot be removed. It can only be prevented. There is only excess nitrogen when factories overload the ground with wastes. In order for excess nitrogen to be prevented would be for factories to not overload the ground with wastes.

Conclusion:

In conclusion we found that the Hudson River nitrogen level is below the amount that put people in risk. Therefore the nitrogen level in the river is healthy. This means that the Hudson River does have nitrogen in it, but wont affect us in a negative way. By doing this lab we learned that nitrogen is actually an important factor in our lives as long as it is a healthy amount. We also learned that water quality affects life.