Comparing Tropospheric Ozone Levels at a Rural and a Suburban Location

Our experiment aimed to compare tropospheric ozone levels at a rural and a suburban location. We hypothesized the suburban location would have a considerably higher amount of ground level ozone measured in parts per billion. We used Schoenbein paper to measure ozone in the air by comparing color changes to a color chart, and then comparing the number given from the chart to a graph relating Shoenbein number and relative humidity to give ozone in parts per billion. On three different days, we conducted 10 trials at each location. Using a t test, we compared the data from the suburban location to the data from the rural location. In two of our three trials, rural ozone levels were significantly lower than suburban ozone levels. However, to say rural ozone levels are lower than suburban ozone levels, we would need to do many more trials. Therefore, we cannot draw a conclusion between the tropospheric ozone levels at rural and suburban locations.

Research Done By:

Sarah Garnai
Cousino High School

Erwin Patalinghug
Warren Mott High School

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