Initial Amount of Sodium Hydroxide (mL)
Final Amount of Sodium Hydroxide (mL)
1
5.0
4.4
2
5.0
4.2
3
5.0
4.0
By using concepts of stoichiometry and molarity, the pH of the River Water was found to be 2.30. However, the pH range that most fish can tolerate is 5.0 to 9.0, so the River Water Acidity is not within this normal range. pH less than 7.0 indicates that a solution is acidic. This means that the water is too acidic for fish to survive in, so the cause of the fish death is the high acidity of the water. This is because when water that is acidic comes into contact with certain chemicals and metals, they make them more toxic. By having a low pH, this indicates that the water is actually increasing the …show more content…
However, all of these pollutants were ruled out by the experiments that were performed. The presence of Nitrates and Phosphates were ruled out by the Solubility and Temperature Experiment as the concentration of these two pollutants did not exceed the maximum concentration in which fish are not affected. The presence of Nitrates and Phosphates were also ruled out by the Solubility of Gases Experiment as the the concentration of oxygen was never too low for the fish to survive, which would be an issue if Nitrates and Phosphates were in fact present in the river water. The Neutralization Experiment also ruled out the presence of these two substances as the acidity of the water does not affect the toxicity of Phosphates and