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ICP Lab Report
ICP Lab Report
Results: All the concentration and calibration data are located in the lab notebook. Both of the
instruments calculated the calibration curve and gave us the concentration levels for copper and
zinc in our three samples. The following are our sample concentration results for both
instruments. ICP results:
Sample
Fountain
Chem Lab
Bathroom
Copper(Cu) ppm
.050973
.039475
.022311
Zinc(Zn) ppm
.042034
.045879
.038690
Copper(Cu) ppm
-5.727
-5.695
-5.758
Zinc(Zn) ppm
-5.727
-5.687
-5.757
AA results:
Sample
Fountain
Chem Lab
Bathroom
For the AA results, even though we got a positive linear regression graph, we still
received negative results.
Conclusion: The experiment was overall a success and we were able to determine the
concentration of copper and zinc in water samples found in the building. The ICP was fast and
efficient and actually gave surprising results. As seen in the table above, there was a higher level
of copper in the drinking water than the others and had the second highest concentration of zinc.
This is surprising because we expected to find higher levels of the elements in either the
bathroom or faucet water and not in the drinking water. This could be due to possible copper
piping in the water fountain or some other piping issue. The AA on the other hand was not as
successful. Even though it was fast and efficient like the ICP, we received negative
concentrations for our samples. Upon looking at our standard data it was shown that the 50ppm
standard actually had 43.65ppm for copper and 40.37ppm for the zinc 50ppm standard. This
miscalculation in making the standards could have been a factor in determining the sample
concentrations. Some other factors that could have led to negative concentrations could be misentered data into the software or the instrument itself. Also since we used the same standards
from the ICP, the elements were mixed and since the AA is highly selective, maybe there was
interference between the elements during analysis.