Science 9 – Currents From The Kitchen Lab

The Purpose of this Experiment :

Which fruit or vegetable will produce the most electric voltage during this experiment?

My Hypothesis: 

When I attach both the galvanized nail and the copper strip to my banana, then the greatest voltage possible will happen.

The Materials Needed:  

• One voltmeter
• Two wires
• One galvanized nail with zinc
• One copper strip
• A banana
• A knife

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(We also had half of a potato and half of a lemon to use)

The Procedure: 

1. Attach the galvanized nail and the copper strip to the fruit or vegetable
2. Attach the voltmeter using both wires to the fruit or vegetable
3. Record all of your results
4. Compare your results with other pieces of fruit or vegetables

Reason Why: 

With the banana, I noticed that it had work for previous experiments that I did at other schools, so I decided to try it again with this experiment. Bananas are usually a great source of energy, so I thought, why can’t it be a source of electrical energy as well.

My Observations: 

• When we had both our galvanized nail and our copper strip in the lemon, it ended up working better when we moved the nail around, especially more towards the center.
• When we moved both pieces of metal around, it worked better in the center for the banana, the lemon, and the potato.
• When we poked the vegetable or fruit with the nail or copper strip, the voltage went up and down rapidly, but it went back to the original voltage in the end when we stopped.

Results:

The voltage of my banana : 0.5 (what happened at first), 0.79 (what happened with both the galvanized nail and the copper strip in the center of the banana)

The voltage of the potato : 0.7 (what happened at first), 0.8 (what happened with both the galvanized nail and the copper strip in the center of the potato)

The voltage of the lemon : 0.9 (same in both the center and what happened at first)

The voltage of both the potato and the banana (the potato was on top of the banana) : 0.87

The voltage of the banana, lemon and the potato (the banana was on the bottom, then the potato in the middle, and finally the lemon on top): 0.95

 

 

Here was what the banana looked like in the end with all of our tests to find the most powerful voltage possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what our potato looked like in the end of our experiment with all of the leftover colour of green from the copper strip.

 

 

 

 

Finally, this was the final outcome of our lemon with no more citrusy juice unlike before when we moved the galvanized nail all around the centre of the lemon.

 

 

 

Conclusion: 

With this experiment, the fruit with the most voltage was the banana when both the galvanized nail and the copper strips was in the center of the banana. The voltage for that was 0.79 volts at the end of both tests.

I was also correct with my hypothesis when I said that the banana would produce the most voltage when I attach both pieces of metal.

I now wonder what would happen if it was in ammeters. Instead of finding the most powerful voltage for this experiment, what would happen if we were to find the fruit or vegetable with the most powerful mA?

Some Extra Questions:  

1. What was causing the electrons to flow during this experiment?                                                                     The fruit is an electrolyte solution like with all fruits more or less, so that was what causing the electrons to flow on the metal during this experiment.
2. What were the dependent, the independent, and the controlled variables during this experiment?       The dependent variable during this experiment was the voltage, the independent variable was the type of fruit used each time, and the controlled variable was where we placed the two pieces of metal each time on each fruit or vegetable.
3. How can we modify the experiment to improve our results?                                                                             One thing we could have done to improve our results was to try to use more citrusy fruits to see if our results would improve or if they would just stay the same in the end. We could have also try to compare both citrusy fruits from the less citrusy fruits to see what would happen then. Would there be any different or similar results from before?
4. What could be a source of error or of uncertainty in your experiment?                                                          For us, we could have brought more fruit to class for our experiment, picked a more citrusy fruit or a bigger fruit to see what would happen then, and had a whole potato or lemon instead of a half.
5. How can I use this in my everyday life?                                                                                                                   I could use this in my everyday life if I ever need a bit of electricity from a different source, for example, a fruit.