Introduction: The aim of this experiment was to see whether water, Powerade or orange juice contained more electrolytes. Electrolytes are responsible for controlling the total amount of water in the body, regulating blood volume and maintaining muscle and nerve function. A lack of these electrolytes can cause headaches, fatigue, confusion, hallucinations and muscle spasms. I found that water and distilled water were less conductive than the orange juice and Powerade and orange juice proved to be the most conductive. Investigative Question: Does tap water, Powerade or orange juice contain more electrolytes? Hypothesis: Powerade will contain the most electrolytes as millions of Rands are spent on engineering these drinks to rehydrate athletes as effectively as possible. Variables: Independent: Orange juice, Powerade, distilled water, temperature …show more content…
This disproved my hypothesis that Powerade would have the most electrolytes and proved that orange juice contains more and would be better for hydration. It answered my investigative question of which liquid would have the most electrolytes with orange juice coming in first place, Powerade in second place and tap water in last place. I would like to improve the experiment by adding in more variables such as more substances to test and testing at different temperatures to see if the temperature has an effect on the conductivity. I also feel that I would like to get more copper wire to change it after each trial as I think the oxidation of the copper wire caused my later readings to fluctuate and perhaps be inaccurate. I therefore conclude that orange juice proved to be the most conductive and that the oxidation o the copper wires caused some of the later readings to fluctuate but overall I feel that the results were accurate. This disproved my hypothesis as I thought that the Powerade would contain the most