Lab#13: Chemical Weathering: Data and Analysis Questions
Data Interpretation: Create a graph (remember you are comparing sets of
things—in this case rocks) using the class data and the total mass lost for
each rock sample. Make sure there is a title that includes the independent
and dependent variable, x/y axes labels and units. Print the graph and staple
in your lab notebook.
Data Analysis and Conclusion:
Answer the following questions in full sentences in your lab notebook.
1. Create this table in your notebook:
Chemical Weathering Class Averages
Rock Type
Average Mass Lost
Marble
Limestone
Sandstone
Granite
2. Refer back to your hypothesis. Was it correct? Why or why not?
3. By studying the class average table, discuss the results for each sample.
Include which lost the most and the least and why.
a. Marble:
b. Limestone:
c. Sandstone:
d. Granite:
4. What properties of the samples may have affected the varying resistance
to chemical weathering? What do you think was the most significant?
5. What type of chemical weathering does this exercise most closely
simulate?
6. If you were asked to select a building stone to be used in constructing the
exterior of a new office building in a city with heavy industrial emissions
and car exhaust, which of the four samples you tested would prove most
durable in this environment? Why?
7. List examples of chemical weathering you may have observed on your
school grounds, and describe what processes may have been responsible
for each example.