- #1
psuedoben
- 36
- 2
My partner and i have been running experiments for our research in micro algae separation, using a reactor containing aluminum electrodes. we run a 10v current across the electrodes, and flow saltwater between them. we were wondering how changing the conductivity of the saltwater might affect the current output, so we decided to test it. our hypothesis was that the higher the conductivity, the higher the resultant current. we thought this, because conductivity is measured as the inverse of resistance in a solution, and current can be written as I = V/R, so we figure if conductivity = 1/R, the higher the conductivity would mean the lower the resistance which would in turn translate to higher current. when running the experiments, however, we seemed to find the opposite affect. the current dropped rather linearly as we increased the conductivity of the water. do you think we were dealing with faulty equipment/procedure, or that our understanding of what's going on is flawed? wouldn't be terribly surprised if the answer is both.