Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I was wondering if someone can help with this project. I saw it online in a website that provided the step by step process. However, I'm almost about to turn in the project. It's not working and as I continue to research, I went into a website that had feedback that the mp3 sweet potatoe powered project does not really work. I'm almost on my deadline, and I'm worried that I wasted my time on something that is not true. PLEASE HELP ME!!! Thank you so much.

Monica

Hi Monica,

I saw the same webpages as you did. One saying it did not work, and one saying it did work. One can only report what happened in your own experiment, being extra careful about the procedures you use.

One need also apply the "reasonableness" test. Does it make any sense that sweet potatoes generate enough power to power an mp3 player? I think not!

The experiment's results are, however, the real answer.

Hi Monica,
For info on how to set up a proper "veggie battery" take a look at this page:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p029.shtml
Good luck,
Chris

Chris,
Do you mean:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p029.shtml
This is the same URL as yours with an "l" at the end.
(though it could be that you had the "l", and my system (a mac) stripped it off.)

Yes, thanks. I fixed it.

I'm sorry to hear you ran into trouble with your sweet potato-powered MP3. I know Chris provided the link to you to the Veggie Powered Battery project on the Science Buddies site. Maybe going through the steps of that project will help turn up something that went awry in your initial tests. If you have questions about the procedure or the connections, do post them here, and maybe an expert will be able to help troubleshoot.

Amy
Science Buddies

Amy,

Thank you for your kind words.

Monica