How to explain local sharp spikes and dips in pH or conductivity?

>>8882759
Further explanation: we surveyed 16 points along a body of water, tested for various metal ions, chloride, pH, conductivity, ORP, temperature and dissolved oxygen. But we got pic related's values. What else could have affected them?

>>8882763
what type of body of water? how deep was it? was there any flora/fauna around where you measured? did you check microbe populations around your measurement points?

>>8882767
It was a brook. It wasn't deeper than two or three feet at the most. There may have been tiny fish. There was some algae that I couldn't ID. It was on the edge of a dairy farm. We didn't check microbes because this was a Gen.Chem. 2 project.

are you sure it you didnt contaminate the water with the measuring device? Did you take multiple samples from different areas of the same bodies of water? its very likly you got some type of bacteria/algae/flora in the sample which would have caused the misreadings. There are many plants and animals which produce acidic waste. My guess is fish poop.

>>8882773
it's fucking gen chem 2. just make some bullshit up. you could come up with 10s of bullshit excuses to appease your professor/TA. just show you have half a brain, if you even do, and can think of different reasons for pH changes.

>>8882774
>are you sure it you didnt contaminate the water with the measuring device?
Nope, sterilized it before and after
>Did you take multiple samples from different areas of the same bodies of water?
Yep.
>My guess is fish poop.
Aight, thanks.
>>8882778
>make bullshit up
I would prefer not to

>>8882782
idiot

>>8882784
I didn't really have a say in the matter of sampling area choice. It was the professor's design.

>>8882784
>why wont you falsify your results and make up stuff instead of learning?!?!
dude what??? go back to grade school

>>8882785
look, freshman. you're an idiot. make some bullshit up. no one has a definitive answer for you.

>>8882789
I'm not looking for a definitive answer, I'm looking for a nudge in the right direction

>>8882789
dude fuck off the thread if you dont want to help OP. Why be a cunt if he is just looking to learn?

>>8882792
you're so dense. there are TENS of different directions you could take. your professor/TA is only interested in seeing that you can muster up the brain power to think of variables in the experiment that you didn't control for. THAT'S IT. so go sit in a corner and try to think really, really, really hard about ANY possible reason for anomalies in your data. it's going to be very tough for you

>>8882759
>xy graph
>both axes represent the same value
What did he mean by this

>>8882867
its a simple visualization technique that helps more than just a single number line. Ive used this same technique multiple times in grad school.

I really wish the EPA would stop posting here