Design Experiment
Aim:- To investigate how much electrical energy can be produced from different vegetables.
Materials:-
- large potato
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sweet potato
-
carrot
-
multimeter
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3 long wires with crocodile clips
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2 galvanised nails
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2 pennies
Theory and Design
Relevance:- The relevance to society is if the vegetables that i have chosen can produce electrical energy. If this is a fact then the vegetables chosen could be used as a substitute for powering small electrical appliances used in everyday life.
Variables Identified:-
- mass of the vegetables
- different vegetables
- current produced
- time
Variables controlled
- time
- size of the potato
- different vegetables.
Method of measuring outcomes
The method of outcomes i have chosen is using a multimeter to measure how much current is produced from the vegetables.
Safety Issues:- Be careful around the phosphoric acid contained in the vegetables. Wash your hands before and after handling the acid. Do the experiment on a dry surface away from heat sources.
Theory:- My theory is that the phosphoric acid in the potatoes would react with the zinc on the galvanised nail and react with the copper on the pennies to produce electrical energy.
Procedure
1. Cut all the vegetables in half.
2. Place the potato face down on a plate.
3. Put one of the nails and one of the pennies in each half of the potato.
4. Place the white wire on one of the nails.
5. Place the black wire on the penny in the same half of the potato as the nail with the white wire attached.
6. Place the red wire on the penny in the other half of the potato.
7. Place the other end of the black wire on the nail with no wires attached.
8. Put the black meter wire in the DC hole of the multimeter.
9. Put the red meter wire in the 15V hole of the multimeter.
10. Attach the other end of the white wire to the black meter wire.
11. Attach the other end of the red wire to the red meter wire.
12. Now record the results every 2 mins for 10 mins.
13. Follow the same procedure for the carrot and the sweet potato.
Prediction:- I predicted that the potato will produce more electrical energy than the carrot and the sweet potato. Because the potato contains more acid therefore it will react better with the copper and the zinc creating more electrical energy.