Activity Overview
In this activity, students' will use fruits and vegetables to make an electrochemical cell and develop an understanding of how an electrochemical cell works. They will use a voltage sensor to determine which fruits and vegetables produce the most electrical energy.
Before the Activity
Plug the Sensor Voltage in channel 1 on the CBL™
Download TI-GRAPH LINK™ or TI Connect™ to analyze data on the computer
Download DataMate™ program
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 15 - 21 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to your class.
Follow the Activity procedure:
Collect four to six different fruits
Make two slits, one centimeter apart, in the fruit and insert a zinc strip in one slit and a copper strip into the other slit
Attach the positive lead to the copper strip and negative lead to the zinc strip
Measure the voltage across the fruit
Repeat this process for the remaining samples
Review the pH values on two different graphs - a bar graph and a circle graph
Determine which fruit will make the wet cell with the highest voltage
After the Activity
Students' will complete Student Data Collection and Analysis Sheet.
Review student results
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary