Ask an Expert: Electrolyte Challenge: OJ VS Sport Drinks

HELP!!! I have a question about a science fair project idea I used from Science Buddies. I used the Electrolyte Challenge: OJ VS Sport Drinks and added a few of my own ideas. The example used tap water and distilled water and tested both with the multimeter to find the electrolyte level. Why did the example use tap/distilled water for the test? The study is looking at electrolytes in OJ and Sport drinks not H2O. I just want to understand why water was used to test for electrolytes?? Help I am putting my data together and wanted to make sure I understand why water was tested. My graphs and date are due Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014.

Hi oliveoil3,

Distilled water has very, very little dissolved ions in it. So, it is a control. Measuring the conductance of tap water shows you that tap water actually has some electrolytes in it. You can then compare the electolyte levels in OJ and sports drinks to that in tap water.

Thank you terik for your input. It was helpful.