Does Low Ph Level Affect The Growth Of Cyanobacteria And Algal

My aim is to determine the effects that low pH levels have on the growth of cyanobacteria and algal species, by testing various concentrations of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) in different samples of cyanobacteria and algae of equal volume.

My hypothesis is that the lower the pH level of the water, the less the cyanobacteria and algae species will grow. Thus the higher quantities of sulphuric acid in the water will result in the lowest growth rate of the cyanobacteria and algae species.

Various chemicals have been released into the air, changing the mixture of gases in our atmosphere, hence resulting in a dramatic increase of acid rain levels. Acid rain is “rain that contains a high concentration of pollutants, chiefly sulphur dioxide and nitrogen

Accurate apparatus (measuring spoon, dropper, glass beakers and measuring cylinder) was used correctly to ensure accurate measurements, therefore quantities were accurate, but because growth observations were done by eye inspection, the growth data is inaccurate. Therefore the experiment was reliable. The samples were all kept in the same place for the whole duration of the experiment, and experienced the same effects of varied temperature. In the environment bacteria and algae are exposed to a daily range of temperatures, thus the varying temperature in this experiment would not affect one sample more than another. The only affect that the varying temperature had was on the evaporation rate of the water. The experiment is not valid as it was not reliable, precise, accurate, nor was it a fair test. To improve the experiment and the results, the experiment should have been repeated at least 3 times to ensure reliability and test for precision. The method should have speculated a way of measuring the changes in the growth of the Cyanobacteria and algal species, this would have ensured am accurate set of results. The experiment did not correctly take changes in pH levels into proper consideration, as the changes should have been recorded rather than regulated back to the specific original pH levels. If these changes to the method were taken into account, then more accurate scientific results would be produced. Overall the experiment was useful in showing that lower pH values will kill the cyanobacteria and algal species faster than higher pH values; the pH level of 2 killed the cyanobacteria and algae species in 11 days, whereas the pH 7 only killed the cyanobacteria and algae species in 16