The effectiveness of non-alcoholic beverages as a conductor of electricity.

Introduction:
When subatomic particles called electrons move from atom to atom, the charge they carry with them is called electric current. The flow of electric current occurs because of the attraction between the positive and negative charges of various atoms and molecules. If one end of a wire is more negatively charged and the other end is more positively charged, then electrons will flow from the negative end to the positive end to try to distribute the electrons equally. This is how batteries work. A common battery is divided into two chambers. The substance filling one chamber is negatively charged, and the substance in the other is positively charged. When a complete path, or electric circuit, is built between the two sections, (the + and - sides of the battery,) electrons will flow from the negative side into the positive side. The difference in charge between the positive and negative sides of a battery or any other power source is the driving force for the electron flow. The more difference between the positive and the negative, the more powerful the current. We measure this difference in volts. As more electrons flow from the positive end to the negative end, the voltage decreases. When the amount of electrons in both sides is equal, there is no more electric flow, and the battery is dead. All AA, AAA, AAAA, C, and D batteries have a voltage of 1.5 volts. Most watch batteries and button cell batteries have voltage of three volts. For this particular experiment, I used a standard nine-volt battery. Some substances conduct electricity better than others. Metals, such as copper, are very good conductors because they contain electrons that are not attached to any atom. The movement of these free electrons makes them bump into and transfer energy to other particles in the metal. This allows the electricity to move through the metal more quickly and with less resistance. The best natural conductor of electricity is 100% pure silver, but even that does not conduct every single bit of electricity put through it.

Some substances, generally called insulators, are bad conductors of electricity. Air is one of the worst. But as with the conductors, no insulator will completely block electricity. Electric current, given sufficient voltage, will travel through any substance, but no substance will carry all of the electricity without some energy loss. Most of this lost energy turns into heat, which you can feel if you touch a wire that has had electricity moving through it for a long time. An extreme example of an insulator conducting electricity is lightning. Because of the friction between the water molecules, the clouds build up enormous amounts of static electricity, or electricity that is not yet in motion. The ground is generally neither positive nor negative, but the huge negative charge in the clouds creates tens of thousands of volts difference for every inch of distance between the ground and the cloud. When the voltage reaches about 25,000 volts per inch, the electricity ionizes the air and streaks toward earth as a lightning bolt. Because the air is such a bad conductor, tremendous amount of heat are given off by the airs resistance to electric current. The air around the lightning bolt is instantaneously superheated and expands very rapidly, creating a loud noise which we know as thunder. Lightning can also flash between two clouds when one cloud has a much higher negative charge than another. Since the distance between two clouds is almost always far less than the distance from a cloud to the ground, this type of lighting is more common. When pools close because of an approaching lightning storm, most people assume this is done because water is a good conductor of electricity. But pure, distilled water is actually a very bad conductor of electricity. The water in the pool is only a good conductor because of the chlorine and other substances it contains. Since practically all the water on the planet has more substances in it than H2O, water is generally regarded as a good conductor. 100% pure water can be found, though: on the shelves of drugstores and supermarkets. The beverages that we will be testing all have a large amounts of water in them, but the differences in them is what we will be testing. Various sources have informed us that liquids containing higher amounts of sodium and other metals will conduct electricity more efficiently. A substance in a liquid which gives the liquid increased conductivity is called an electrolyte.

Purpose
The purpose of this project was to discover which of the three liquid substances, namely: tap water, soda and energy drink, is the most effective conductor of electricity.

Hypothesis
It was hypothesized that soda is the most effective conductor of electricity among the three liquid substances.

Materials
1 glass of tap water 1 glass of soda (mainly coke) 1 glass of energy drink (mainly sting) Light bulb Receptacle 3 yards of copper wire 2 main plugs Switch Flat wood

Procedures

Discussion

Conclusion
In conclusion, the conductivity of a liquid is dependent on the amount of sodium and other electrolytes in them. The soda and energy drink, being high in electrolytes, conducted electricity most efficiently, causing the light bulb to emit brighter than when tap water was used. This was still higher than the original prediction that soda is the most effective conductor of electricity.

Abstract
This experiment was designed to test the conductivity of several beverages: tap water, soda and energy drink. The tap water conducted the electricity least efficiently. The brightness of the light emitted using the soda and energy drink were the same, showing a brighter light than that using tap water. These two beverages were the best conductors because they contained larger amounts of sodium, an electrolyte. The experiment showed that pure water is not a very good conductor, but it becomes one when you put stuff in it. Practically all bodies of water on the planet big enough to swim in have huge amounts of electrolytes in them. For example, the oceans salty water is loaded with sodium. So unless you want to get yourself FRIED, stay out of the water when lightning is within ten miles of your location.

Reference
http://www.physlink.com/education/askexperts/ae61. cfm http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060 904180525AAjA6CH