Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My science fair is going to be on which energy drink is the best as in which one has the most electrolytes.
I know that one way to find how many electrolytes energy drinks have is to use a mulitmeter. But somewhere i read said that the amount of electrolytes in an energy drink could be compared to others using super absorbant polymers which leads me to ask do super absorbant polymers absorb electrolytes. and if they do, would using them for this experiment work?
Thanks sooo much )))

While there are super absorbant polymers that can selectively absorb electrolytes, I do not think they are really practical for this type of experiment. Not to mention the fact that they could be cost prohibitive. Using a multimeter is a pretty good way to measure electrolytes. Here is a link for an experiment of this type http://www.andybrain.com/sciencelab/200 ... and-water/
It might also be interesting to compare the electrolyte-sugar ratio for the energy drinks as well.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for replying and the advice.
Can you please explain why they arent practical? I'm just wondering. I read on the internet that if more electrolytes are present, the super absorbent polymers won't absorb as well. I was going to use this information for my experiment, but if they are as impractical as you say..
Also, will this work? (using super absorbant polymer?) Which super absorbent polymers DO work? What do you mean by "selectively absorb" I really need to know! Thanks a ton!!!!!

knic.mitch96 wrote:Can you please explain why they arent practical?

Polymers can easily have different absorbency properties for different electrolytes. Given that you are comparing different beverages that are likely to have a different balance of different electrolytes, the use of polymers could easily influence the results by introducing an uncontrolled difference.

So some electrolytes leave a greater impact on the absorbancy than others?
Do you know where I can find the absorbency properties of different electrolytes?
Or even better, do you know the different absorbancy rates of sodium and potassium, since those seems to be the most common electrolytes in energy drinks?
The polymers might influence this experiment, but the fact that they might certainly won't go unnoticed. I mean, i'll try to incorporate the different absorbency rates into the results when i'm calculating them.
I really want to do this project! Im super interested in these polymers!
Please, I need alot of help!! Thanks a ton!
-K

Here's an idea: what do you think of leaving out the idea of using sports drinks for now, and instead designing a project that will answer these questions:

So some electrolytes leave a greater impact on the absorbancy than others?
Do you know where I can find the absorbency properties of different electrolytes?
Or even better, do you know the different absorbancy rates of sodium and potassium, since those seems to be the most common electrolytes in energy drinks?

You could mix solutions of known concentrations of different salts and see how much the polymer absorbs. If you read about how superabsorbing polymers work, it has to do with hydrogen bonding, so it might also be interesting to see how salts with divalent cations (e.g. Mg2+, versus monovalent Na+ or K+) work.

Amanda

Nah, Im going to stick with the sports drinks experiment. Great Idea though.
But still, does anyone know the answers to those questions? That would be great!

I'm a bit confused by all of the pronouns in your questions and what they are actually referring to.
Absorption rates are typically a function of what is being absorbed and are specific to the material that doing the absorbing and by how much has already been absorbed.