Question

before we get started, you should probably stop to think about the elephant in the room. why cant we just use water to clean these birds in the first place?

why do you think cleanup crews cant use water to clean wildlife?

fresh water is not available to clean birds.

birds covered in oil try to preen themselves, ingesting toxic oil in the process.

water and oil do not \mix\ enough for water to wash oil off.

both a and b

both b and c

learning objective

analyze the structure of water to determine what can and cannot dissolve in it, and use this information to save wildlife affected by an oil spill.

Explanation:

• Option A: Fresh water is usually available in many cleanup scenarios, so this is not a valid reason.
• Option B: Birds preening and ingesting toxic oil is a real concern during oil - spill situations.
• Option C: Water and oil are immiscible (do not mix well) due to the non - polar nature of oil and the polar nature of water. So water alone cannot effectively wash off oil.

Answer:

E. Both B and C