Water Quality B/C

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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by jimmy-bond »

Chiweenie wrote:Thanks! Btw, what is the smallest font that you can still read when printed out?
I've had notes with 0.5 font printed and I could read them if it was on a very good printer, but if you don't want to strain your eyes, I'd say 4 or so.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by Unome »

jimmy-bond wrote:
Chiweenie wrote:Thanks! Btw, what is the smallest font that you can still read when printed out?
I've had notes with 0.5 font printed and I could read them if it was on a very good printer, but if you don't want to strain your eyes, I'd say 4 or so.
Definitely test your own printer. 2.5 was the minimum readable on mine, if barely, but I only went below 4 once (Microbe Mission ugh).
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by kate! »

jimmy-bond wrote:
Chiweenie wrote:Thanks! Btw, what is the smallest font that you can still read when printed out?
I've had notes with 0.5 font printed and I could read them if it was on a very good printer, but if you don't want to strain your eyes, I'd say 4 or so.
I can read 3, I've never printed out smaller but I could maybe read like 1 or 2 depending on the printer. Like jimmybond said though, 4 is probably the smallest you should have without it being counterproductive.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

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bp31000 wrote:
wearymagpie wrote:has anyone here made a salinometer that is accurate and consistent, and what type (straw and clay, electronic, etc) is it? I've made multiple salinometers with different thicknesses of straws, different amounts of clay and the eyedropper salinometer but none of them have been very good- the spacings are really tiny and the straw will sometimes even sit at whichever marking I set the device into the water at : (
you can make one with a paint dropper (from a craft store like hobby lobby) instead of an eye dropper and add stability to it by adding poster tack like a cone at the bottom. add weight by adding sugar or very fine sand inside. bigger the bulb and smaller the narrow part above will give you enough spacing. the one we used gave us accurate readings every time.
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Thank you very much for the information. The solutions are given between 400 mL and 600 mL. Do we test the salinometer for 400 mL salt water in 400 mL beaker or any size bigger than this? Same way, will the 600 mL salt water be given in 600 mL beaker or 1L beaker? Widely available standard beakers are 500 mL and 1L. Please help us understand the size of beakers we should use to calibrate our salinometer. Thank you for your time and help.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by kate! »

mhb123 wrote: The solutions are given between 400 mL and 600 mL. Do we test the salinometer for 400 mL salt water in 400 mL beaker or any size bigger than this? Same way, will the 600 mL salt water be given in 600 mL beaker or 1L beaker? Widely available standard beakers are 500 mL and 1L. Please help us understand the size of beakers we should use to calibrate our salinometer. Thank you for your time and help.
Not sure if you're asking the other people, but personally what I did was I bought a 600mL beaker but only filled it up to 500mL when calibrating my salinometer. At both competitions I went to (regionals and states) all 4 solutions were filled to 500mL. However, wouldn't your salinometer be accurate no matter how much water is in the beaker? It's based on density, so there would be the same percentage of salinity no matter the amount of water because the amount of salt would compensate. I recommend testing in 500mL, though, because it seems to be the most common amount.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by mhb123 »

kate! wrote:
mhb123 wrote: The solutions are given between 400 mL and 600 mL. Do we test the salinometer for 400 mL salt water in 400 mL beaker or any size bigger than this? Same way, will the 600 mL salt water be given in 600 mL beaker or 1L beaker? Widely available standard beakers are 500 mL and 1L. Please help us understand the size of beakers we should use to calibrate our salinometer. Thank you for your time and help.
Not sure if you're asking the other people, but personally what I did was I bought a 600mL beaker but only filled it up to 500mL when calibrating my salinometer. At both competitions I went to (regionals and states) all 4 solutions were filled to 500mL. However, wouldn't your salinometer be accurate no matter how much water is in the beaker? It's based on density, so there would be the same percentage of salinity no matter the amount of water because the amount of salt would compensate. I recommend testing in 500mL, though, because it seems to be the most common amount.
Thank you for providing the answers. I have tested my salinometer in magic bullet tall jar as I did not had 500 mL beaker available at that time. It worked at home and sank at the test as the base was wider and water level is less. Thanks again for your reply.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by kate! »

mhb123 wrote:
kate! wrote:
mhb123 wrote: The solutions are given between 400 mL and 600 mL. Do we test the salinometer for 400 mL salt water in 400 mL beaker or any size bigger than this? Same way, will the 600 mL salt water be given in 600 mL beaker or 1L beaker? Widely available standard beakers are 500 mL and 1L. Please help us understand the size of beakers we should use to calibrate our salinometer. Thank you for your time and help.
Not sure if you're asking the other people, but personally what I did was I bought a 600mL beaker but only filled it up to 500mL when calibrating my salinometer. At both competitions I went to (regionals and states) all 4 solutions were filled to 500mL. However, wouldn't your salinometer be accurate no matter how much water is in the beaker? It's based on density, so there would be the same percentage of salinity no matter the amount of water because the amount of salt would compensate. I recommend testing in 500mL, though, because it seems to be the most common amount.
Thank you for providing the answers. I have tested my salinometer in magic bullet tall jar as I did not had 500 mL beaker available at that time. It worked at home and sank at the test as the base was wider and water level is less. Thanks again for your reply.
The only thing a thinner vessel is supposed to do is make the spaces between each of the markings larger. But having a beaker will probably help you make a better salinometer because that's what they have at competitions. (Also, the difference in beakers may not have been the reason your salinometer sank? I calibrated and tested my salinometer in a 600mL beaker filled to 500mL, which is what they had at states, and mine still sank in one of the solutions?? Honestly, as long as you have a working salinometer, you can still make an estimate even if it isn't exact. And if all else fails, just guess. The salinometer portion is only 5% of the test aka 4 or 5 points, so it's not the most important thing in the world.)
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by mhb123 »

kate! wrote:
mhb123 wrote:
kate! wrote: Not sure if you're asking the other people, but personally what I did was I bought a 600mL beaker but only filled it up to 500mL when calibrating my salinometer. At both competitions I went to (regionals and states) all 4 solutions were filled to 500mL. However, wouldn't your salinometer be accurate no matter how much water is in the beaker? It's based on density, so there would be the same percentage of salinity no matter the amount of water because the amount of salt would compensate. I recommend testing in 500mL, though, because it seems to be the most common amount.
Thank you for providing the answers. I have tested my salinometer in magic bullet tall jar as I did not had 500 mL beaker available at that time. It worked at home and sank at the test as the base was wider and water level is less. Thanks again for your reply.
The only thing a thinner vessel is supposed to do is make the spaces between each of the markings larger. But having a beaker will probably help you make a better salinometer because that's what they have at competitions. (Also, the difference in beakers may not have been the reason your salinometer sank? I calibrated and tested my salinometer in a 600mL beaker filled to 500mL, which is what they had at states, and mine still sank in one of the solutions?? Honestly, as long as you have a working salinometer, you can still make an estimate even if it isn't exact. And if all else fails, just guess. The salinometer portion is only 5% of the test aka 4 or 5 points, so it's not the most important thing in the world.)
Probably it is good to test with 500 mL and 600 mL beaker. Thank you for your response and help.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by bp31000 »

mhb123 wrote:
kate! wrote:
mhb123 wrote:
Thank you for providing the answers. I have tested my salinometer in magic bullet tall jar as I did not had 500 mL beaker available at that time. It worked at home and sank at the test as the base was wider and water level is less. Thanks again for your reply.
The only thing a thinner vessel is supposed to do is make the spaces between each of the markings larger. But having a beaker will probably help you make a better salinometer because that's what they have at competitions. (Also, the difference in beakers may not have been the reason your salinometer sank? I calibrated and tested my salinometer in a 600mL beaker filled to 500mL, which is what they had at states, and mine still sank in one of the solutions?? Honestly, as long as you have a working salinometer, you can still make an estimate even if it isn't exact. And if all else fails, just guess. The salinometer portion is only 5% of the test aka 4 or 5 points, so it's not the most important thing in the world.)
Probably it is good to test with 500 mL and 600 mL beaker. Thank you for your response and help.
i agree, most competitions use 500 ml beakers.
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Re: Water Quality B/C

Post by coopsadoodles »

sinking salinometers is actually a bg issue for my team. we always end up guessing lol. the water s often superrrrr shallow, so the salinometer can't displace enough water unless it sinks. (woo density) we're currently working on a different design, but it's top secret for now ;)
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