ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Winkler test for dissolved oxygen

Ok kiddo, today we're going to learn about something called the Winkler test for dissolved oxygen. So you know how fish and other animals that live in water need oxygen to breathe just like we do? Well, sometimes the water can't hold enough oxygen for them to survive, and that can be really bad for them.

The Winkler test is a way for scientists to measure how much oxygen is dissolved in the water. They do this by taking a sample of the water and adding some chemicals to it. Then they watch to see what happens.

First, they add something called manganese sulfate. This helps to change the oxygen in the water into a different form. Then they add another chemical called potassium iodide, which reacts with this new form of oxygen to make something called iodate.

Finally, they add some more chemicals to the water that make it change color. This tells them how much iodate is in the water, which means they can figure out how much oxygen was originally in the water before they added the chemicals.

So all of these chemicals working together allow scientists to measure how much dissolved oxygen is in the water. This is really important because it helps them understand how healthy the water is for fish and other animals that live in it.

And there you have it, kiddo - the Winkler test for dissolved oxygen!