Scientist tested an experiment that tested absorption of water in a cactus through the mass of the same type of cactus. The cactus tested in their experiment was called the Barrel Cactus. Sponges soaked in water surrounded the cactus over the course of a couple days and the scientist tested the mass of the cactus to observe how much water was absorbed. This experiment is similar to our because both tested the mass of the same type of cactus and tested the abortion or extraction of water from the cactus by weighing the mass of the cactus. Even though the scientist tested the absorption of water and we tested the extraction of water through salt, the experiments are similar in many ways.
If this experiment was to be done again, there are some improvements that could be made. One of which is so place the cactus into the salt
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This will insure that the salt is more effective than to pour the cup of salt water over the cactus. Pouring the salt water over the cactus was not as effective because the hair protected the cactus from coming in contact with all the salt. Since the hair on the cactus is meant for protection, the salt water is not able to get absorbed into the cactus as much, and instead dries on the hair at the op of the cactus. This affected the data because the salt is meant to extract the water out of the cactus, and if the salt does not surround the cactus then it can't absorb the water causing the mass of the cactus to be affected. Some improvements that could have been made is ensuring that the salt is completely dissolved in the water. At times, the salt was not fully dissolved in the water; there were still grains of salt that formed a layer at the bottom of the cup, and when the water was poured over the cacti, the salt formed a thick layer over the hair surrounding the top