[ChemVlab+] Bioremediation of Oil Spills Info

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Description

Getting bacteria to eat oil is a powerful approach to cleaning up oil spills, and the first step is adding a bioremediation accelerator to form clumps that the bacteria will eat. In this activity, students perform experiments to determine the stoichiometric relationship between the accelerator molecules and the oil molecules, so that they can recommend the correct amount of accelerator to the clean-up crew. The reaction between the remediator and the oil provides a context for understanding stochiometric proportions and limiting reagents.