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Chemistry EE: Too simple?


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I recently responded to a post which made me think about my EE.

My EE is a very complicated topic that I find quite interesting. The experiment, on the other hand is quite simple. I will only be collecting one data which is Time. I will calculate other simple things like molar mass, moles, etc. But I don't really have any harcore chemistry in here. What should I do and will this negatively affect my mark?

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According to Pearson Baccalaureate textbook, often the 'best' EEs come from 'simple' experiments. I totally agree. I did my EE in Chemistry and my topic was really rare. The procedure involved in the experiment itself was really simple I just had to weigh stuff after a reaction. But then, using that one piece of measurement I did tonnes of things! My topic was on filtering wastewater and basically what I did was I got a chemical that somehow has the ability to filter out metal ions in the wastewater, and I simply chucked that in a sample of wastewater to see how effective it is. I compared the amount of metals in the solution before and after the filtration by calculating the mole difference. I did a lot of things with this. I found out the percentage removal, compared it with conventional wastewater treatment values, compared it to water guideline values, determined a model that allows for calculation of how much a given chemical can absorb the metal ions, and used that 'amount' value to estimate the cost of using this whole filtration. I also compared this 'cost' to the conventional approaches to determine whether my method is realistic in terms of wastewater filtering. So yeah, it is not the experiment itself that determines how complex your EE is, it is the evaluation that you take with the data that you collected. So don't worry out your experiment being too simple!! As long as your topic is thorough, then I'm sure you will be able to write a really good EE.

Don't forget to include the reaction that you are looking at in your intro along with explanation of any sort of chemicals you are using. I think I talked about the reaction between the chemical and the wastewater, convention approaches, problems with wastewater pollution, method of my experiment...etc.

Edited by ecieee
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My guidance counsellor, who specifically deals with IB kids, told me that "the point of an EE isnt to do it on something absolutely amazing, like cure cancer or something. it should be simple, but not too simple."

You have to be careful not to make your EE too complex, because that also opens you up to the possibility of making more mistakes. Simple EEs actually can get marked pretty high. The important thing is to follow the guidelines for your EE.

Also, keep in mind that your Chemistry EE can mention Biology or Physics, but any subject that doesnt involve chemistry, and the examiners will simply keep reading and not mark the non-chemistry parts. So make sure to include enough about chemistry.

What is your EE about anyways?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm doing a chem EE. Science EE's tend to do the worst in comparison to other classes, but I know a lot of people who do really really well because they do a simple experiment that produces great data. My advisor says that the best chem EE's are those that involve rate of reaction or percentage yield or something like that that gives really good opportunity for maths.

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  • 3 months later...

According to Pearson Baccalaureate textbook, often the 'best' EEs come from 'simple' experiments. I totally agree. I did my EE in Chemistry and my topic was really rare. The procedure involved in the experiment itself was really simple I just had to weigh stuff after a reaction. But then, using that one piece of measurement I did tonnes of things! My topic was on filtering wastewater and basically what I did was I got a chemical that somehow has the ability to filter out metal ions in the wastewater, and I simply chucked that in a sample of wastewater to see how effective it is. I compared the amount of metals in the solution before and after the filtration by calculating the mole difference. I did a lot of things with this. I found out the percentage removal, compared it with conventional wastewater treatment values, compared it to water guideline values, determined a model that allows for calculation of how much a given chemical can absorb the metal ions, and used that 'amount' value to estimate the cost of using this whole filtration. I also compared this 'cost' to the conventional approaches to determine whether my method is realistic in terms of wastewater filtering. So yeah, it is not the experiment itself that determines how complex your EE is, it is the evaluation that you take with the data that you collected. So don't worry out your experiment being too simple!! As long as your topic is thorough, then I'm sure you will be able to write a really good EE.

Don't forget to include the reaction that you are looking at in your intro along with explanation of any sort of chemicals you are using. I think I talked about the reaction between the chemical and the wastewater, convention approaches, problems with wastewater pollution, method of my experiment...etc.

I have a question....where did you get your samples of waste water XD?

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Guest Soiboist

Remember that "simple" does not mean that it cannot be creative. The investigation should, if you're aiming for an A, be both unique and very creative. Examiners reading hundreds of EEs, many on generic Chemistry experiments, need a break once in a while. You'll have a huge advantage if you can have the examiners excited as soon as they read the title. Moreover, the last criterion about holistic knowledge will actually provide you marks for being creative, since creativity means insightfulness.

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  • 9 years later...
On 8/31/2011 at 9:03 AM, ecieee said:

According to Pearson Baccalaureate textbook, often the 'best' EEs come from 'simple' experiments. I totally agree. I did my EE in Chemistry and my topic was really rare. The procedure involved in the experiment itself was really simple I just had to weigh stuff after a reaction. But then, using that one piece of measurement I did tonnes of things! My topic was on filtering wastewater and basically what I did was I got a chemical that somehow has the ability to filter out metal ions in the wastewater, and I simply chucked that in a sample of wastewater to see how effective it is. I compared the amount of metals in the solution before and after the filtration by calculating the mole difference. I did a lot of things with this. I found out the percentage removal, compared it with conventional wastewater treatment values, compared it to water guideline values, determined a model that allows for calculation of how much a given chemical can absorb the metal ions, and used that 'amount' value to estimate the cost of using this whole filtration. I also compared this 'cost' to the conventional approaches to determine whether my method is realistic in terms of wastewater filtering. So yeah, it is not the experiment itself that determines how complex your EE is, it is the evaluation that you take with the data that you collected. So don't worry out your experiment being too simple!! As long as your topic is thorough, then I'm sure you will be able to write a really good EE.

Don't forget to include the reaction that you are looking at in your intro along with explanation of any sort of chemicals you are using. I think I talked about the reaction between the chemical and the wastewater, convention approaches, problems with wastewater pollution, method of my experiment...etc.

hey there, im not sure if you'll ever see this but if you do i'd really appreciate your advice. Doing my EE on a similar topic. If you ever see this, could you hit me up on instagram @arikucs ,  i'd really appreciate it

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