Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am doing an experiment to compare the voltage and current produced by batteries made with different fruits and vegetables. The veggie power kit came with 6 electrodes (3 positive, and 3 negative). I want to compare 3 different fruits and vegetables, but I want to do more than one trial of each one. If I re-use the electrodes in another round of trials, will that affect anything? Do I have to use brand new electrodes every time so that my only variable is which fruit/vegetable I am using? Or will the electrodes still work the same in every trial?

Hello,

Sounds like a fun project! Technically the effectiveness of the electrodes will degrade over time due to corrosion but it would take a long time for the corrosion to become severe enough to measure. Since your test will be short I think you can ignore this concern and reuse the electrodes.

Here are some other resources related to the project that might be useful:
viewtopic.php?t=8683
viewtopic.php?t=10609

Good luck,

Audrey