Purpose: Which fruit will produce the most electric voltage?
Hypothesis: It will produce a very minimal voltage.
Reasoning: Because fruit/vegetables aren’t batteries, I wouldn’t be expecting much.
Materials: Fruit, Voltmeter, 2 wires, 2 different metals Copper (Cu) & Zinc (Zn), & a Knife… Wait a minute, the teacher handles the knife.
Procedure: Take the fruit or vegetable, cut it, then put the Copper strip & the Galvanized Nail in, connect it to the voltmeter & start recording data, try experimenting with different fruit/vegetable combinations to see what produces the most voltage. Hell! You could create a food battery tower!
Results: The potato emitted 0.7 volts, the tomato emitted 0.45 volts, & the carrot emitted 0.5 volts. When putting the carrot, the potato, & the tomato all in one, it produced 0.8 volts.
What was the independent variable, dependent variable, & the controlled variable?
-The controlled variable was the galvanized metal & the copper strip.
-The Independent variable would be the different types of fruit/vegetables used.
-The dependent variable would be the wires & the classic analogue voltmeter.
What is causing the electrons to flow?
The electrons are flowing because of the electrolytes in the fruit or vegetable.
Very good post outlining the learning you gained from creating your own battery with fruit. Interesting what came out as the best electrolyte. Make sure you have a “will” and a “when” in your hypothesis. Could another variable that you may not have controlled so carefully have had an impact on your results?