Investigating the optimum concentration of a solution of Urea [(NH2)2CO] and Ammonium Nitrate [(NH4NO3] nutrition solution (as inorganic fertilisers) required for optimum plant growth and a sustained yield of rice.

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Investigating the optimum concentration of a solution of Urea [(NH2)2CO] and Ammonium Nitrate  [(NH4NO3] nutrition solution (as inorganic fertilisers) required for optimum plant growth and a sustained yield of rice.

Introduction:

Hydroponics is the growing of plants in water instead of soil. For most effective results, the water must be enriched with nutrients and sometimes requires to be oxygenated.

For a plant to receive a well balanced diet, everything in the soil must be in perfect balance. Rarely, can you find such ideal conditions in soil due to contamination and biological imbalances. But with hydroponics, water is enriched with these very same nutrient salts, creating a hydroponic nutrient solution that is perfectly balanced. Also, very little water is lost to evaporation in a hydroponic system, making hydroponics very useful in drought stricken areas.

 ‘Scientists can use hydroponics to test how different nutrients affect a plant. With hydroponics, a scientist can measure exactly how much nutrients the plant is getting and can give the plant a deficiency or overabundance of a certain macro or micronutrient and determine precisely how it affects the plant's growth.’

Apparatus:

  • 4 Plastic storage totes
  • Regular fish aquarium air pump
  • Air stones
  • Long pipes
  • Long grain brown rice
  • Deionised water 
  • Urea solution [ (NH2)2CO] (aq)
  • Ammonium Nitrate solution [NH4NO3] (aq)
  • Beakers ( 500ml)
  • Dual spectrum lights
  • 3, 10 and 50 ml pipettes
  • Litmus Paper
  • 2L soda bottles
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Method 1: Making Nutrition Solution- Urea-Ammonium Nitrate

Composition (Weight by % Nitrogen present in solution)

To calculate how much nutrient solution will be required:

 This recipe makes 1000 litres of solution and consists of two parts concentrated in 10-Liter bottles. – ( Proposed by Dr. Alan Cooper for a typical hydroponic system.)

10-Liter bottles will be hard to find, therefore I will alter the recipe to fit in 2-Liter soda bottles by dividing all the ingredients by five. Since this uses one-fifth the chemicals of the original, it only makes 200 L of solution.

Calculation:

  • 20 plants (per ...

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