| Abstract |
In my science project, I will be investigating how blood clotting normally works, and how it can be affected by an anticoagulant. I chose this problem because every time I've had a paper cut or bloody nose, it would heal so fast. So I wondered, how does my wound heal so quickly? It's because several factors in my blood work together to plug the opening caused by the cut in a process called Hemostasis or coagulation. My hypothesis is that the gelatinous balls of calcium alginate (representing blood clots) will not be able to coagulate if sodium citrate (representing the anticoagulant) is added to it. I plan to test my hypothesis by creating a blood simulation to investigate how an anticoagulant affects coagulation using chemicals like sodium alginate, calcium chloride, and sodium citrate. |
