The Phytotoxicity of Nanoparticles

The purpose of this experiment was to test the level of phytotoxicity contained in zinc oxide and silicon dioxide nanoparticles. It was hypothesized that the zinc oxide nanoparticles would contain the highest phytotoxicity. The objective of understanding the phytotoxic properties of nanoparticles is a crucial concept for the improvement of agriculture, and because this is a new field of research, every new observation is critical to the comprehension of the concept.

To carry out the experiment, mung beans were placed into one of three different solutions: distilled water, a solution of distilled water with silicon dioxide nanoparticles, or a solution of distilled water with zinc oxide nanoparticles. Four beans were placed into eight petri dishes per group, and the nanoparticle solutions were added to each. The beans were then placed into a growth chamber and monitored over a seven-day growing period. After the seven-day growing period, the sprouts were removed from the petri dishes and measured using the LoggerPro software.

The average lengths of the sprouts were used as the data in the ANOVA test and the three two-sample t tests that were conducted. The null hypothesis for the ANOVA test was that the mean sprouts lengths was the same for all treatments, and the alternative was that the mean sprout lengths were different for all treatments. The null hypothesis was rejected after running the ANOVA test. The null hypothesis for the t tests was that the zinc oxide would yield a lower average sprout length compared to the silicon dioxide and distilled water. After conducting these two-sample t tests, it was determined that the original hypothesis that zinc oxide would yield the lowest sprout length, therefore containing the highest amount of phytotoxicity, was accepted.

Research Conducted By:

Joshua Ahearn
Cousino High School

Tahrim Choudhury
Warren Mott High School

 

 

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