INTRO
Samples collected from the Albany Pine Bush were first ran through the default analysis twice. After collecting the data, the samples were then ran again through the x-ray analysis, but this time an extended test was used. I did this in order to understand how much more precision is used in collecting data through an extended test as compared to a default test. Seeing as I am comparing the tests used and not the sample areas, I did not feel that I needed to look at all samples, so I only went through samples 1-7. Below are the samples and their data with the default and extended test.
Note: 2 data sets were collected for the default test
RESULTS
Sample 1
- by shrubs
- near houses
Default test
Extended test
Sample 2
- by shrubs and woods
- recent control fire
- not as close as 1 to urban development
Default test
Extended test
Sample 3
- wooded area
- recent control fire
- near highway
- note: water was vey cloudy
Default test
Extended test
Sample 4
- same as sample 3
Default test
Extended test
Sample 5
- low shrubs
- very close to landfill
Default test
Extended test
Sample 6
- low shrubs
- very close to landfill
- also near wetlands
Default test
Extended test
Sample 7
- same as sample 6
Default test
Extended test
Conclusions
What I found was rather interesting. It seemed that the majority of heavy metals compared between the default and extended test complimented each other. Because the default test is supposed to not be as precise as the extended test, I used the two data sets as a range for comparing the extended set's data to. As long as the extended test's data feel between the default data or very close on the outside, I counted it as being accurate. The first thing I will note is that most data points from the extended test had a small range of confidence, thus making them more precise. However, some extended points fell well out of the range, making me believe that the extensive test is not always the best. Below are several observations I made.
- Sample 1: The different tests seemed to compliment each other well
- Sample 2: The data matched well except for Pb
- Sample 3: The tests did not seem to compliment each other
- Sample 4: The different tests seemed to compliment each other well
- Sample 5: All the data matched except for Ba
- Sample 6: The tests did not seem to match well for Ba
- Sample 7: Sb and Ba did not seem to match between the tests
I might chose to use the extended test over the default test, however I will run the test several times and use the mean for each elements count.
No comments:
Post a Comment