How Does the Concentration of Sugar Affect the Power Output of a Microbial Fuel Cell
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Microbiology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The recent threat of climate change and the rising demands for electricity around the world has prompted research into Microbial fuel cells (Logan, 2006). Microbial fuel cells are a promising technology that can potentially avoid this crisis. Microbial fuels cells (MFCs) are fuel cells that collect electrons from bacteria in order to produce electricity (Logan, 2006). However, the expansion of MFC technology is slow due to many limitations such as its low power output and the lack of understanding of MFCs and bacteria’s relationship with them (Xu, 2015). The purpose of this experiment was to test how the concentration of sucrose within a microbial fuel cell’s soil affects its power output. In the experiment, 3 microbial fuel cells all contained different concentrations of sucrose within it’s soil. The wattage of each MFC was tested over the course of a week. It was hypothesized that the microbial fuel cell with the highest concentration of sugar within it’s soil will have the greatest wattage compared to the microbial fuel cells with a lower concentration of sugar in it. The results from the experiments show that the MFC with no sugar had the highest mean wattage of 245.714 while the MFC with 200 grams of sugar had the lowest mean wattage of 111.714. According to the ANOVA chart, the p-value 0.0004 is much lower than the critical value 0.5. The null hypothesis can be rejected due to the fact that the p-value is less than the critical value and that the p-value is very close to 0 (the closer the p-value is to 0, the higher chance there is that the data is significant). The degrees of freedom is equal to 41, which is very high. Since higher degrees of freedom usually mean there is a larger sample size, a higher degree of freedom means more power to reject the null hypothesis. In conclusion, it is plausible to say that when the amount of sugar within the soil of a Microbial fuel cell is increased, the resulting power output of that MFC decreases. With the help of microbial fuel cells and the addition of sugar, renewable energy can be made without harming the environment in any shape or form (Ochoa, 2016).
Recommended Citation
Patel, Jay, "How Does the Concentration of Sugar Affect the Power Output of a Microbial Fuel Cell" (2022). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 92.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2022/all/92
Location
HSS 116
Start Date
4-2-2022 10:45 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
How Does the Concentration of Sugar Affect the Power Output of a Microbial Fuel Cell
HSS 116
The recent threat of climate change and the rising demands for electricity around the world has prompted research into Microbial fuel cells (Logan, 2006). Microbial fuel cells are a promising technology that can potentially avoid this crisis. Microbial fuels cells (MFCs) are fuel cells that collect electrons from bacteria in order to produce electricity (Logan, 2006). However, the expansion of MFC technology is slow due to many limitations such as its low power output and the lack of understanding of MFCs and bacteria’s relationship with them (Xu, 2015). The purpose of this experiment was to test how the concentration of sucrose within a microbial fuel cell’s soil affects its power output. In the experiment, 3 microbial fuel cells all contained different concentrations of sucrose within it’s soil. The wattage of each MFC was tested over the course of a week. It was hypothesized that the microbial fuel cell with the highest concentration of sugar within it’s soil will have the greatest wattage compared to the microbial fuel cells with a lower concentration of sugar in it. The results from the experiments show that the MFC with no sugar had the highest mean wattage of 245.714 while the MFC with 200 grams of sugar had the lowest mean wattage of 111.714. According to the ANOVA chart, the p-value 0.0004 is much lower than the critical value 0.5. The null hypothesis can be rejected due to the fact that the p-value is less than the critical value and that the p-value is very close to 0 (the closer the p-value is to 0, the higher chance there is that the data is significant). The degrees of freedom is equal to 41, which is very high. Since higher degrees of freedom usually mean there is a larger sample size, a higher degree of freedom means more power to reject the null hypothesis. In conclusion, it is plausible to say that when the amount of sugar within the soil of a Microbial fuel cell is increased, the resulting power output of that MFC decreases. With the help of microbial fuel cells and the addition of sugar, renewable energy can be made without harming the environment in any shape or form (Ochoa, 2016).
