We are on day 4 of the Microbial Fuel Cell Experiment. So far no lights are blinking, and when we do the voltage test with the meter and resistors, they have been all 0's. But the instructions make us believe that we should be getting some kind of voltage with the resistors.
Should we be concerned that we are getting no readings?
Do we need to switch soil?
Do you have any ideas on what soil to use? We tried going off the instructions and finding organic soil without all the nutrients but I don't think we get the correct stuff. Can you suggest any?
Microbial Fuel Cell
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DrSullivan
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Re: Microbial Fuel Cell
These are some of the hints offered on the experiment website.
Turn Mud into Energy with a Microbial Fuel Cell— and a Dash of Salt: One way to increase electrical output is to make it easier for electrons to flow. Adding salt will do the trick, but is there a point at which it is counterproductive to add more salt? Use a microbial fuel cell kit to experiment and find out!
Waste Not, Want Not: Use the Microbial Fuel Cell to Create Electricity from Waste: Love to build? This experiment is for you! Learn step-by-step how to build a microbial fuel cell from scratch and then discover how much electricity you can harvest from bacteria living in benthic mud.
Turn Mud into Energy with a Microbial Fuel Cell— and a Dash of Salt: One way to increase electrical output is to make it easier for electrons to flow. Adding salt will do the trick, but is there a point at which it is counterproductive to add more salt? Use a microbial fuel cell kit to experiment and find out!
Waste Not, Want Not: Use the Microbial Fuel Cell to Create Electricity from Waste: Love to build? This experiment is for you! Learn step-by-step how to build a microbial fuel cell from scratch and then discover how much electricity you can harvest from bacteria living in benthic mud.
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AmyCowen
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Re: Microbial Fuel Cell
Unfortunately, getting 0 readings by day 4 probably does suggest a problem with your experiment. The LED may not blink that soon, but you should be getting readings from day 1 if everything is set up correctly. You will need to very carefully go back through the steps of the setup to make sure nothing was overlooked. Be sure you look carefully at how the measurements are taken, too, to ensure that all your settings are correct when taking daily measurements.
The soil you are using could be a factor. The materials list gives you this guidance for the soil you purchase: "Soil can also be purchased from a plant nursery, a hardware store, or online. When you buy your soil, choose organic topsoil that has not been sterilized or treated with pesticides. Do not use soils with little white foam balls, vermiculite pieces, or perlite, that are used to aerate the soil and avoid soils with peat moss."
Also make sure the soil does not dry out.
When set up correctly, the timeline on the Help tab of the project is a really good overview of how you might anticipate the project to go. As you can see, the time it takes for each stage will vary. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ivity#help
But you should be getting readings each day right now when you are checking.
In the project, you set up two cells. Did you use a different soil in each? Are either of them getting readings?
Amy
Science Buddies
The soil you are using could be a factor. The materials list gives you this guidance for the soil you purchase: "Soil can also be purchased from a plant nursery, a hardware store, or online. When you buy your soil, choose organic topsoil that has not been sterilized or treated with pesticides. Do not use soils with little white foam balls, vermiculite pieces, or perlite, that are used to aerate the soil and avoid soils with peat moss."
Also make sure the soil does not dry out.
When set up correctly, the timeline on the Help tab of the project is a really good overview of how you might anticipate the project to go. As you can see, the time it takes for each stage will vary. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ivity#help
But you should be getting readings each day right now when you are checking.
In the project, you set up two cells. Did you use a different soil in each? Are either of them getting readings?
Amy
Science Buddies