Which Homemade Absorbent Works Best to Clean Up Oil?
Colby Geisinger and Keegan Fouse
7 th
Grade Physical Science 7-O
Mr. Kizuka
1/29/10

Which Homemade Absorbent Works Best to Clean Up Oil?
Five different absorbents will be made to clean up oil and see which creation works the best. The controlled variables will be the amount of oil that will be used each time the experiment is tested. The experiment will be performed on a hard, flat surface outdoors and the surface will be a flat tray or pan that keeps the oil in the same area. The same amount of oil will be used on a flat surface to see if the absorbents can clean it up.
The observation will be which absorbent works the best to absorb the oil. Each absorbent will be tested three times to make sure that the results stay consistent. Topics to research will be the types of materials and how the materials work when cleaning up oil. The internet will be used to do most of the research. Finding out if the absorbents used in the experiment really do work to clean up oil will be interesting.
Background Information
Cleaning up an oil spill
Contain the oil spill to reduce the spreading of the oil because if it is not it could end up being an even bigger problem causing distress in the environment. Use the proper absorbents depending on the situation. Such as if on land or in water. Safely disposing of the absorbents is very important. Either sweep up and throw away the absorbents or take them to a township hazardous waste disposal center so no incidents will occur.
Absorbents

If powdered laundry detergent is sprinkled on the oil it can reduce and absorb the oil making it a lot easier to clean up. Kitty litter will also absorb the oil very well. Salt along with the kitty litter and the powdered laundry detergents will also reduce the size of the oil spill by absorbing it. Flour will act like the powdered laundry detergent by sprinkling it over top and reducing the size of the oil spill it will also help to absorb the oil. Paper towels will wipe up the oil and absorb the oil but still not as well as the other absorbents.
Disposal of absorbents
It is good to wait until the kitty litter is fully absorbed and then sweep it up. After that the absorbent can be disposed of or thrown away. Paper towels and rags should be put in a can and then submerged in water. Then close the lid so that it is closed very tight.
After doing that take it to the township hazardous waste disposal center. Most of the absorbents can be swept up and thrown away. Some of the absorbents must be disposed of in a different way though. If not disposed of properly a possible explosion and other things may occur.
Safety around oil
Oil can also affect a person’s health. Especially if someone has allergic reactions to it. Oil is also very slippery. That is why it should be cleaned immediately and effectively. If a spill is let go for too long someone easily could slip and fall and possibly become injured. Oil is also an extremely flammable liquid. If an oil spill is not properly and immediately cleaned up it could possibly be the fuel for a fire or maybe even worse.
Information about oil

Oil is a very flammable and hazardous liquid and that if it is not treated properly it could very easily cause a fire. That could result in things as bad as burns of people or objects nearby. If oil is left go for too long it could easily cause a stain. That is why it is so important to clean the oil up immediately or as soon as possible because it will stain very quickly. Oil is a very hazardous and dangerous material. If the oil is not handled very carefully and properly it can be very harmful to a person’s health and objects that may be around it. Oil is also an organic source. Oil can be found in nature all across the world as an organic source.
Hypothesis
This experiment is about making homemade absorbents to clean up oil and see if they work. The oil will be put into a flat pan and then cleaned up by the absorbents. Five different absorbents will be made to clean up the oil. The independent variable will be the absorbents that are being made for this experiment. The dependent variable will be how much oil is absorbed or cleaned up by the absorbents. The controlled variable will be the amount of oil used each time the experiment is tested. At least one of the absorbents will do very well when trying to clean up the oil. This will prove that something simple can be made to clean up oil.