Oil Absorbed In Water Research

The question that this experiment answered was “Does the type of material affect the amount of oil absorbed.” The hypothesis was “If a sponge is put in a container of oil, then it will absorb the most.” The independent variable was the type of material used, rag, paper towel, and sponge. The dependent variable was the amount of oil absorbed. Control variables were the same brand of the different materials used, the same batch of the mixture of paint and baby oil, and the same place. The experimental groups were the materials being placed in the oil. There were three control groups one was the sponge another was a paper towel and the last one was the rag. The procedures were that one at a time the materials were placed in the container. There are three groups, one group with the time in the oil at fifteen seconds, another group with a time limit of thirty seconds, and the last group with the time limit of sixty seconds.
When the experiment was in progress the rag and paper towel seemed to have been getting worse as the time got longer, while the sponge made a steady improvement. These data collections do not support my hypothesis. What was observed was that at the very beginning of the time the materials absorbed the maximum amount that they could and as they were in the oil longer they seemed to loose the oil they absorbed. Another pattern that was being seen throughout the experiment was that as soon as the material soaked into the oil, the oil had a significant decrease, even though the materials did not collect the maximum amount of