Monday, September 30, 2013

Dissolved Oxygen


Dissolved oxygen is the measure of the amount of oxygen carried in a medium. It is needed to survive, or in other words cellular respiration. Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water. Moving water has a large amount of dissolved oxygen. To test this, first you need a pipette and vial. Then, suck up 25mL of tank water to put in the vial. Next, use the ampoule and place it in the vial to press down and break the glass tip. The water should turn blue and gently swirl around, then wait about 2 minutes. Now compare your results with the key colors. Less than 3mg/L will not support fish, while above 5mg/L is perfect. Meg and I had a result of 8mg/L. I think a pond would have a level of 12 because they have a lot of aquatic life there. A large river might be 14 or higher because moving water contains more dissolved oxygen.

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