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Researched by Evan J. 1999-2000 |
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The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate how road deicers, used by the state of Washington, affects automobile wiring the most.
I became interested in this idea because my dad is a truck driver and he talks about it a lot in the winter. He talks about how it corrodes the frame and other parts of his semi.
The information gained from this experiment could advise people when
to wash their cars after they have been driving on roads in such conditions.
This experiment would benefit people by keeping the vehicle in the
best shape possible; it would also benefit the state and its environment.
My hypothesis is that the deicer, FreezGard Zero, would corrode the exposed copper wires, and aluminum of a vehicle if left on for a period of time
I base my hypothesis on information in a packet from Jason Smith, who
works at The State of Washington Transportation and my dad's idea of what
it does to his wiring system in his semi.
Since it contains MgCl2, So4, K, NA, H2O, and pH, it will eat away
at the wire and rubber. The deicer is a by-product of salt and is
to keep ice off the roads at sub-zero temperature.
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The constants in this study were:
- The size and kind of material
- The type of deicer
- How watered down the deicer (Freeze Guard Zero) is
- Weight of material verses the amount of deicer
- The amount of deicer on the material
- The same camera used to take the pictures
- The same climate and same temperature
- The same container that the deicer is stored in
The manipulated variable was the amount of time it took to destroy or make unsafe.
The responding variable was what the material did after one hour, four
hours, one day (twenty-four hours), two days, three days, five days, one
week, two weeks, and three weeks.
To measure the responding variable I measure the time in days to see how long it takes for the deicer to make the metal to fall below the Washington standard safety code.
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| QUANTITY | ITEM DESCRIPTION |
| 1 gallon | Freeze Guard Zero (deicer) |
| 20 inch wire | isolated wire |
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16 square inch |
aluminum |
| 16 square inch | chrome |
| 16 square inch |
piece of rubber (tire) |
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PROCEDURES
1. Gather materials with a sample of wire, chrome, aluminum, steel,
and rubber in each group (A, B, and C)
2. Fill spray bottle with deicer
3. Spray a thick coat of deicer on all but one of the groups (A and
B but not C)
4. Within twenty to thirty hours later repeat step three
5. Repeat step four for the next five days
6. On the sixth day wash group B with water
7. The following day repeat steps three through six
8. Repeat steps three through six as many times as necessary until
you see signs of corrosion
9. Record the number of days it takes to see evidence of
corrosion
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The original purpose of this experiment was
The results of the experiment were
See the table and graph below.
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My hypothesis was
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if
If I were to conduct this project again
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| RESEARCH REPORT
A man named Diwight Simion drives the truck for applying the deicer to the roads. He says that what determines when they apply the dicer to the roads is when it is warm and dry in the day and below freezing at night. The deicer is applied by truck going about thirty-three miles per hour. The computer on board the truck tells them if they need to go faster or slower to maintain a thirty-five gallons per lane mile. The reason that they use the deicer instead of sand is because it is to be fish safe and the sand was, "polluting the water." It was getting in to the river and when the fish inhaled the sand got in their gills and caused them to suffocate. To Top BIBLIOGRAPHY Binkie, Bartholemew. "Plant Growth," World Book Encyclopedia,
1991.
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