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Figuring Out Fertilizers : Creating A Practical Chemical Fertilizer Essay

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Figuring out Fertilizers:
Creating a Practical Chemical Fertilizer
Author: Michaela Buchanan
Group Members: Grant Kresge, Kirk Martinson
Abstract:
The goal of this experiment was to create an aqueous chemical fertilizer with the mass composition of 0.80% nitrogen, 0.50% phosphorous, 0.10% potassium, and 0.20% sulfur4 and a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. The criterion of mass percent composition was addressed by conducting molarity, stoichiometry, and unit conversion calculations to determine the mass of chemicals which should be used. Solubility rules were addressed to hypothesize a combination of chemical compounds which would contain the required elements but produce no precipitant. The use of a strong acid, in this case HCl, was implemented to control the pH in the final fertilizer solution. This experiment produced an aqueous fertilizer with no precipitants which had a final pH of 7 after the addition of 0.50 mL of HCl. The validation of the initially stated hypothesis through experimental results suggested that the technique used in this experiment was both effective and practical for creating a chemical fertilizer.

Introduction: Agriculture was a cornerstone of human civilization since the beginnings of organized societies. Therefore, the ability to increase the health and yield of crops was always of great interest to civilizations universally. Chemistry can be a great tool in the field of agriculture as is exemplified by the use of fertilizers in modern farming

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