Currents from the kitchen

Purpose: Which fruit will produce the most electric charge

Hypothesis: When I use a fruit that has a high percentage of water, it will result to a higher voltage.

Materials: 1 volumeter, 2 wires, 1 nail, 1 copper strip, at least 3 fruits/ veggies

( we used some more fruits and veggies later on in the experiment)

Instructions

1. Write your pre-lab
2. Cut the fruits into halves
3.  Put in 2 pieces of metal(copper and a galvanized nail)
4. Attach to the voltmeter using wires
5. add wires to the metals.
6. Record the results by writing down results, taking pictures…etc.
7. Compare results from several different fruits.

Reasoning (Why):

Why I choses my hypothesis is because when I think of water touching a Current, it produces a flame. So if the fruit/veggie has a high water percentage, it should be able to catch a current easier.

observation:

1. we had to make a circut for the experiment to work.
2. there was a pattern that was made depending on which metal we attached to the wires
3. there was a ton of mess. after poking the nail and copper into the fruits there was a mess.
4. the strong aroma coming from a couple fruits. lemon, kiwi and orange had the strongest smells
5.  attaching the galvanized nail to the wire connected to the 3 v, always made us have a positive volt. But doing the opposite with adding galvanized nail to the wire connected to the red v, gave us a positive charge.  (vise versa with the copper strip)
6. 

results:

 

	3v to galvanized nail +red v to copper strip	3v to copper strip red v to galvanized nail
apple	-0.2 volts	+ 0.1 volts
kiwi	-0.3 volts	+0.1 volts
pear	-0.32 volts	+0.2 volts
cherry tomato	-0.5 volts	+0.2 volts
potato	-0.27 volts	+0.2 volts
lemon	-0.2 volts	+0.1 volts
orange	-0.5 volts	+0.75 volts

 

 

Most important: 

• the orange was the fruit that gave the highest volatag. in the end we were able to record a volatge of 0.75. it wasn’t the highest in the class, but in our batch it was
• having said that, the most important finding we found is that it really is possible to light an led with a couple fruits and veggies, wires and metals. we combined some fruits with the copper, nail and wires in an alternating pattern to make a circuit. we figured out that you must have one copper connected by a wire to a galvanized nail. once you have done that serval time using different fruits, you should have light. at first the light was just flickering, but after adjusting the metals, we had a fully lit led.
• 
• 
• I found this so cool and interesting!

Conclusion:

• after finishing our experiment we learned that it really is possible to make a charge using fruits and veggies. ( my group was even capable to light an led using just wires 2 metals and and our fruits.) it does take some trial and error, but once you find the pattern or you can say formula, it simple. you just test out different fruits and veggies to see what the big factor that causing a volt.
• i would say my hypothesis was 75% correct. i didn’t do any further experiments to figure out if the real reason why we could make a charge was because of the water instead the fruits. however considering that the orange was the fruit that had the highest voltage, i believe that the water percentage in the fruit does play a role. Oranges are used for making juice, therefore i believe that my hypothesis is correct.
•  what would happen if we used differnt metals? like zinc+ gold, would it still work?
• if we are able to use fruits and veggies to make a voltage, would real food also make a voltage? could aburger make a charge? or pizza?
• could we use 3+ metals to give an even higer charge?

Questions: 

what is causing electrons to flow in this experiment?

electrons flow in this experiment because copper pulls electrons with more power compared to the zinc (galvanized nail).

what are the independent , dependent and controlled variables?

The independent variable would be the different fruits and vegetables used ,

the dependent variable would be the voltage, and the controlled variable would be the copper strip + galvanized nail.

how can we modify our experiment to improve our results?

I would say that the quality of our materials. So if we used organic or fresh fruits and veggies, it might make a difference.

Same with the copper strip and nails. if the materials were just bought, their could’ve been a higher voltage charge. so i would say that the newer that the materials are, the better results you will get.

what could be sources of error or uncertainty in our experiment?

I think that one off the biggest uncertainty is the voltemeter. if it wasn’t set up properly it could affect your experiment. If the starting point was shifted and didn’t actually start at zero, the whole experienced is compromised. also not reading the voltemeter rigth is also a big uncertainty. in the beging me and my group were reading the voltemeter. so all the results we were writing down were wrong/ luckily tho we were capable to find our mistakes earlier on and just re-did the ones we meesed up.

how can I use this in my everyday life?

I think this experiment we just did, is a great way of learning if circuits/ electricity is something that interest you. If making circuts and creating volatge charges fascinates you, maybe that could be our future job. you could becomes an electrician, coder, technician, wireman and more.