Nicole Davis

September 21st, 2015

GEOL 103: Geology of the Earth, Section 001

Lab section 009, Amanda Williams
Lab Report #3

Creating Steady State Systems

What to look for:

What type of state is being created: steady state, constant, reinforcing feedback or
balancing feedback?

Define and apply definitions of steady state, reinforcing and balancing feedback and
where they are applicable in the experiment or a real world example.

Materials:
- Plastic tank, 2’ x 2” x 1’
- Sand
- Gravel
- Water
- Dye (pink)
- Hose
- Hose clamp
- Timer

Procedures:
1. Fill half tank with sand closing both ends of tank with clamps
2. Fill rest of tank with water
3. Allow water to penetrate sand, use timer and set for 3 minutes
4. Add dye to tank. Record observable data.
5. Repeat with sand and gravel mix
6. Repeat with only gravel mix
7. Repeat steps 1-7 but allow water to flow out of tank by unclamping hose and
allow new, clean water to flow in.

Observations:
● Pink dye dispersed in water quickly and along first 3 cm of layer of sand.
● Pink dyed dispersed completely through gravel.
 Nicole Davis
September 21st, 2015

● Once hose was opened, pink dyed water flowed out and after 2 minutes water in
the tank was completely clean, free of dye.

Analysis:
- Open and closed systems were observed
- Closed system was represented by tank being closed of and no new water
added (rarely occurs in nature, but is the earth as a whole)
- Open system represented by tank being open and new water allowed to
flow in (most common in nature)
- Isolated system represented by ‘closed system’ part of experiment
- Dynamic system represented by ‘open system’ portion of experiment

Conclusion:
A steady state or system where the material or energy remains constant with time even
when material or energy remains constant, was created when the hose to and from the
tank was blocked meaning that the water and pink dye within the tank had nowhere to
go so a state of constant matter and energy was stayed. Balancing feedback, or change
in a direction that leads to other factors that reverse the direction of change often
leading to a reversal of what the original path of change was predicted, was created by
adding more water to the tank so that there would be less pink dye within the tank
creating a steady state again. Reinforcing feedback or a process that would evolve from
an independent variable that would lead to further change in the direction the system is
moving (can be positive or negative) was not represented in the experiment. On Earth,
a positive reinforcing feedback is represented in global warming as the Greenhouse
effect; temperatures will continue to rise as as air pollution continues, as air pollution
increases less greenhouse gases that are beneficial to the earth will decrease leading
to more temperature increase due to more solar energy penetrating the ozone layer and
reaching the earth.