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High School Physics Department: Explore the Mystery of Fruit Cells

March 27, 2024

On the third and fourth week of March, students of Grade 10 gathered in the physics labs to receive instructions for an upcoming experiment.

After receiving an in-depth description of the lab equipment, procedures, and safety instructions from the physics teachers, the students began to conduct the experiment with the vegetables and fruits they had brought from home.

First, zinc and copper plates were inserted into tomatoes, potatoes, apples, and lemons to act as electrodes. Then wires were used to connect the two plates to a voltmeter in order to measure the potential difference of each fruit cell. With the zinc plate acting as the negative terminal and the copper plate acting as the positive terminal, students were able to record the potential differences of fruit cells of different fruits onto paper and provide comparisons.

Students started adjusting how far apart the copper and zinc plates were, watching closely to see how they affected the voltage. Then, they changed how deep the plates were placed to explore the impacts of both distance and depth. This helped them understand how fruit cells work better.

After the exciting experiment, students returned to the classrooms and answered questions about the experiment, creating a deeper understanding towards potential differences of fruit cells and also electric currents as a whole through calculations of the average potential difference.

(Written by 10(9) Austen Pictures by G10 physics teachers Supervised by Xu Yuechao Reviewed by Qian Zuo)