Gathering+data+through+all+senses

**//Gathering data through all senses//** - Use all your senses, stay alive, participate fully, get your hands dirty, experience it all. Don’t hold back.

I had always thought that quantitative data, data recorded by the computer or some sort of recording device, was the most important. Qualitative data, data that required observations by the eyes, nose, and hands, were not as important as they were not as accurate and precise since everyone can have different opinion and observations. I thought that quantitative data, being more precise, is more important as it was what others have as well. Until I got points off in my experiments for not having qualitative data, I did not realize its importance. Therefore, to improve, I recorded observations for my research project. I researched about titration curves and did an experiment on how different acids affect the shape of the curve. Having learned from my mistakes, I recorded qualitative data, including what I thought was strange, what was happening, and what changed. Because I recorded qualitative data, I knew what was happening when I was writing my lab report. Without qualitative data, it was difficult to remembr what went wrong during the experiment and what happened (like color changed when what was happening, was there heat, smell, or bubbles produced?). At the end, I found my qualitative data (combined with my quantitative data) very useful as I would not have drew a conclusion that I was sure of without it.

Evidence: my qualitative data in my research project: Hydrochloric Acid - Aceic Acid - Sulfuric Acid -
 * after the acid was added into the flask, the pH measurement change was very unstable as it moved up and down in a large range
 * the pH measurement changed slowly. it took a long time for the measurement to narrow down to a 0.5pH nge
 * since it took 10mL to neutralize the base, HCl is the second most/least acidic among the three acids being tested
 * looking at the point where the solution was neutralized, the pH measurement was still higher than 7. this means that the pH probe measure one pH too high, so after recording all data, subtract one pH from every measurement
 * after adding 1mL, the pH measurement would change very quickly and the measurement was very stable as it didnt move up and down in a large range
 * since it took around 15 mL of acid to neutralize the base, it is the weakest acid among the three acid being compared
 * looking at the point where the sotion was neutralized, the measurements of this titration did not need to be corrected since after the solution turned clear, the measurements were below 7
 * the pH measurement changed very quickly
 * since it took only around 5mL of acid to neutralize the base, this is the most acidic among the three acids being compared
 * looking at the point when the solution turned clear, the measurements of this titration did not need to be corrected since the measurements were below 7 after the solution was neutralized