Electrical Resistance in Distilled Water: Experiment Ideas

[alvintm]

I recently got this as an idea for an interesting independent project. I had planned to do the experiment using the four point method of resistance measurement, but I'm stuck on figuring out just what materials I might need to use. I intend to use the basic high school equipment, nothing too fancy, but still be able to be accurate. I also thought of using dc and ac current in the experiment.
Does anyone have ideas of how I might be able to do this, and what materials I might need to use.

 

[Doc Al]

<Moderator Note: Moved from Independent Research forum.>

 

[mgb_phys]

Isn't 4 wire normally used when the resistance to be measured is very small compared to the lead resistance?
You might want to look at a Wheastone Bridge for measuring small changes in a large resistance.

ps. If you are planning to use AC, please don't use 115/220V AC line power for an experiement with water spilled everywhere!

 

[Topher925]

Maybe I'm just being stupid here by why not just use a megger to do this? Unless that is you want crazy super accurate results.

 

[NightSwimmer]

You're going to need "crazy super accurate results" if you are dealing with pure water. It is not a conductor -- it is an insulator.

 

[alvintm]

I might make this research for future refrence, so yes, I would love to have "crazy super accurate results."

I still want to use distilled water though. But it's just because I do not think I am able to access pure water right now.

mgb_phys: You are most certainly right about the 4-wire method. And I am indeed open to a variety of ideas to make my research a success, so how exactly might I set up the required equipment to measure distilled water electrical resistance using the wheastone bridge? Coz this is getting quite interesting, in terms of simple apparatus.

I appreciate the ideas guys :)