Andrew's Senior Project: Copper Sulfate & Plant Development

[Andrew333]

Hello, I'm Andrew and I'm in 12th grade. If you are interested, I would like to share a presentation showing the process, observations, results of an experiment showing the physical effects copper sulfate can have on early plant development. I, with much help from some intelligent members of Physics Forums, completed this experiment as my senior project and wish to contribute the results in some way to a science community that may find the information possibly useful or, at the least, interesting. The link below should direct you to it. Please leave a reply to this thread if you have any thoughts, questions, or corrections. Enjoy and thank you very much.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1didDWgExe3VjG1DSgEdOFnfRarr92K0bR_8l_95k3rs/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Drakkith]

Very nice! I wasn't even aware copper sulfate was an issue for plants!

 

[Nik_2213]

The old tailings zones from eg UK's prehistoric & Roman copper mines have a distinct flora, of strains evolved to tolerate the metal's toxicity.

Also, IIRC, when a pH-reagent mix-up at a water treatment plant in UK liberated a surfeit of copper ions from the area's domestic piping, a lot of people took ill...

 

[Natuurfenomeen22]

Hello, I'm Andrew and I'm in 12th grade. If you are interested, I would like to share a presentation showing the process, observations, results of an experiment showing the physical effects copper sulfate can have on early plant development. I, with much help from some intelligent members of Physics Forums, completed this experiment as my senior project and wish to contribute the results in some way to a science community that may find the information possibly useful or, at the least, interesting. The link below should direct you to it. Please leave a reply to this thread if you have any thoughts, questions, or corrections. Enjoy and thank you very much.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1didDWgExe3VjG1DSgEdOFnfRarr92K0bR_8l_95k3rs/edit?usp=sharing

Very nice Andrew. During my Bachelor studies I have also worked with Copper sulfate and some copper nanoparticles for toxicity assays. It is interesting to see the effects on a different plant species now. Keep up the good work!

 

[Tom.G]

Nice project Andrew! And thanks for keeping us updated on it, it is appreciated.

For those not familiar with it, Copper Sulfate is used in low concentrations (50ppm), as a fungicide in both agriculture and aquaculture. I used to live near a golf course where the water hazards (ponds) were periodically treated with Copper Sulfate to kill the algae without harming the fish.

Again, Nice Job.
Tom

(p.s. other uses at: https://www.greenwaybiotech.com/blogs/news/7-reasons-to-keep-copper-sulfate-handy-in-your-home)

 

[Drakkith]

For those not familiar with it, Copper Sulfate is used in low concentrations (50ppm), as a fungicide in both agriculture and aquaculture. I used to live near a golf course where the water hazards (ponds) were periodically treated with Copper Sulfate to kill the algae without harming the fish.

Now that you mention it, I think I used to treat my pool with a copper based product to kill the algae that would grow.