Powering a Device Using Food
While many students understand that fruits and vegetables can give our bodies energy, they may not know that these same fruits and vegetables can power small electrical devices! In this activity, students experiment with various fruits and vegetables to determine the amount of electrical energy each produces. Students use an engineering design process to determine an optimal circuit design configured using a selection of fruits and vegetables. After evaluating the effectiveness of the fruits and vegetables individually, they design an electrical circuit that produce sufficient energy to power a small electronic device.
Measuring the electrical energy produced by a lemon, a potato.Copyright 2020 Elizabeth Parker, Rutgers University RET
Like engineers, in this activity students use the process of data collection and analysis to design an electrical circuit that incorporates various fruits and vegetables that can deliver sufficient electrical energy to power a small electrical device. Students employ an engineering design process when using their data to redesign their circuits for optimal performance. The knowledge gained from recording the amount of electrical energy produced by each food type informs the decision on how to configure the fruits and vegetables to form an electrical circuit that produces sufficient electrical energy to power a small electronic device. Students get an introduction to circuit design, which is a fundamental skill of an electrical engineer. Students also learn about how the chemical make-up of the materials used in the battery influences the amount of power produced as a chemical or material science engineer develops novel materials to enhance the production of and flow of electrons through an electrical circuit for optimal power and energy production. Students also participate in the production of electrical energy from a non-fossil fuel source, which is a fundamental objective of environmental engineers concerned with man-made global climate change induced by greenhouse gases resulting from the use of fossil fuels.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Create a simple circuit.
- Describe the primary parts of a battery.
- Produce and measure voltage and current from a fruit/vegetable battery system.
- Determine the circuit set-up and fruit/vegetable for optimal energy production by comparison of power (calculated) generated by fruits/vegetables using the formula used to calculate power.