Background Research

1. How do different salts affect electrical currents when using a student-instructed battery with copper electros?By: Destane` Garrett

2. Background Research • When discovering the electrical charge, the researcher learned that “electrical conductivity estimates the amount of total dissolved salts, or the total amount of dissolved ions in the water.”­­ (Moore, 1) • The researcher will be utilizing three different kinds of salts to create the different types of electrical currents in the water. The regular table salt is made up of the compound NaCl, or sodium chlorine. This type of salt is usually mined “from salt mines and, once mined, it is refined and most minerals are removed until it is pure sodium chloride” (Saltworks, 15). The Epsom salt is made up of the compounds magnesium sulfate or MgSO4. The last of the salts is sea salt, which is made by the harvesting of ocean water into large clay trays that are left alone so the sun and wind can evaporate the water naturally. Sea salt can still contain minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and iodine because sea salt manufacturers do not typically refine it as much as the other kinds of processed salt. • Water, H2O, or Dihydrogen monoxide is a compound composed when two hydrogen atoms fuse with an oxygen atom. It is called the universal solvent because it can and will dissolve more substances than any of the other liquids. Water has a pH of seven, which means it is neither basic nor acidic, rather it is neutral.

3. Introduction The topic that the experimenter chooses to pursue is to know how different salts would affect the electrical currents that water produces. The experimenter will be using a student-instructed battery with copper and aluminum electros to conduct said experiment. The importance of the experiment is to learn that if a person would add different types of the compound called salt into water, would it really change or make a significant difference to the water’s electrical currents? The purpose of this experiment is to see if different types of salts could alter and ultimately raise the voltage of water in currents. With that said the researcher believes that if salts such as magnesium sulfate were added to the water and then measured in voltage after becoming a solution, then its voltage would increase and ultimately be at its highest point.

5. Materials • 1. Tap Water • 2. Table Salt • 3. Epsom Salt • 4. Sea Salt • 5. 500ml Beakers • 6. 10ml Graduated Cylinder • 7. 100ml Graduated Cylinder • 8. Spoon • 9. Differential Voltage Probe • 10. Computer • 11. Copper Electros • 12. Aluminum Electros • 13. Clay • 14. Napkins • 15. Sticky Notes • 16. Markers • Fill four 500ml beakers with 300ml of water. • Get sticky notes and label each beaker individually as A, B, C, and D. • Hook up Differential Voltage Probe to the computer, and use the program LabPro to measure the voltage in the water. • Take the copper electro and the aluminum electro and hook it with the red and black clips; the red clip is with the copper electro, and the black clip is with the aluminum. • Take beaker A and place the copper and aluminum electros within the beaker, each on opposite sides of each other. • Use the pieces of clay to secure the electros’ place. • Press collect on the LabPro program to measure the voltages that flow in the water, do this 2 more times to have a sufficient amount of trials. • Record all pieces of data for each trial. • Pour 10ml of table salt into the 100ml graduated cylinder. • Pour the table salt into beaker B, and stir salt with a spoon for about five minutes, or until the salt becomes dissolved into a solution. • Place the copper and aluminum electros into beaker B (the electros should still have the clay on them to secure their places) and press collect to measure the amounts of voltage. • Dump out the water in beaker B and repeat steps 9-11 two more times, each time filling the beaker up with 300ml of water, and each time rinsing and drying off the spoon and electros used. • Record all pieces of data for each trial. • Repeat steps 9-12 for beaker C, but instead the table salt will be replaced with Epsom salt. • Record all pieces of data. • Repeat steps 9-12 for beaker D, but instead the table salt will be replaced with Sea Salt. • Record all pieces of data.

7. My graph states the averages of all the types of salts in all of their individual trials combined. The averages are 0.495, 0.550, 0.502, and 0.551.

11. Conclusion • The purpose of the experiment was to see if different types of salts could alter and ultimately raise the voltage of water in currents. • The experiment showed that the salt that made the biggest input was the sea salt solution, followed by table salt and then magnesium sulfate. • For the table salt, the average amount of voltage was 0.485±1, the standard deviation was 0.014±1, and the median and mode were 0.485±1, taking into account the systematic error that occurs in all instruments. For magnesium sulfate the average was 0.502±1 (v), the standard deviation was 0.017± (v), the median was 0.496±1 (v) and the mode was 0.487±1 (v). For the sea salt, the average cam up as 0.551±1 (v), the standard deviation was 0.012±1, and the median and mode were 0.557±1 (v). • The data did not support the hypothesis, which was if salts such as magnesium sulfate were added to the water and then measured in voltage after becoming a solution, then its voltage would increase and ultimately be at its highest point. • Systematic error was also present, the most prominent being the usage of the Differential Voltage Probe. The researcher would have to wait and press collect a few times into the experiment to get the data to flow at a correct place, and because of that it may be off on its conclusions that it received. Also, the usage of the graduated cylinder with the pouring of the salts would be of concern. The pours were as accurate as the experimenter could make them, but because of the equipment, the measures were plus or minus one, and were marked accordingly. • The results of the experiment happened the way they did because water is made up of two elements, oxygen and hydrogen, and by adding salts, such as table salt or sea salt, to the water it allows the water to become an electrolyte solution, which enables it to conduct electricity. • Further study in the topic may include increasing the amount of salts that would go into the solution; citrus from oranges and lemons and measure the voltage in water by citrus solutions, or different combinations of electros and measure the currents.

12. Works Cited Electric Shock. “Electrical Safety.” Http://www.electricshock.org/electrical-safety.html. 2010 Web. 12 Oct. 2010. Michaud, J.P. 1991. “A citizen’s guide to understanding and monitoring lakes and streams.” Publ. #94-149. Washington State Dept. of Ecology, Publications Office, Olympia, WA, USA (360) 407-7472. Moore, M.L. 1989. “NALMS management guide for lakes and reservoirs.” North American Lake Management Society, P.O. Box 5443, Madison WI, 53705-5443, USA (http:/www.nalms.org). Sakowski, Michael. Http://www.schoolinyourhome.com/science/battery.htm.School in your home. 2005. Web. Saltworks. Http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp# seasalt.Saltworks.us. Saltworks, 2010. Web. 29 Sept. 2010.