The "Power" of Fruits & Vegetables: Advanced Chemistry Students Charge Cell Phones with Produce
Advanced chemistry students have been studying galvanized cells, which culminated with a final project that required them to determine which fruits and vegetables would best charge their cell phones.
"In a standard galvanic cell, chemical energy is transferred to electrical energy using the electric potential difference between the two electrodes, which allows it to act as a power source," said Kevin Wang '20.
Students utilized different concepts about the galvanic cell and their knowledge of fruit and vegetable chemistry to create batteries using produce. Popular "power sources" included potatoes and lemons. "The more acidic a solution, and in this case a fruit or vegetable, the more conductive it will be, which is why lemons work well because they are very acidic," said Dora Harag '20
By the end of the project, students successfully turned their produce of choice into functioning batteries and produced enough voltage to charge their cell phones. Well done!
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"In a standard galvanic cell, chemical energy is transferred to electrical energy using the electric potential difference between the two electrodes, which allows it to act as a power source," said Kevin Wang '20.
Students utilized different concepts about the galvanic cell and their knowledge of fruit and vegetable chemistry to create batteries using produce. Popular "power sources" included potatoes and lemons. "The more acidic a solution, and in this case a fruit or vegetable, the more conductive it will be, which is why lemons work well because they are very acidic," said Dora Harag '20
By the end of the project, students successfully turned their produce of choice into functioning batteries and produced enough voltage to charge their cell phones. Well done!
