Electrolyte Challenge: Orange Juice Vs. Sports Drink
Abstract
The makers of sports drinks spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars advertising their products each year. Among the benefits often
featured in these ads are the beverages' high level of electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this science project, you will
compare the amount of electrolytes in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which has more electrolytes to replenish the ones
you lose as you work out or play sports. When you are finished, you might even want to make your own sports drink!
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
,Summary
AREAS OF SCIENCE
Chemistry
Sports Science
Diabetes
DIFFICULTY
TIME REQUIRED
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
PREREQUISITES
None
MATERIAL AVAILABILITY
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner Home Science Tools. See the Materials section for details.
COST
Average ($40 - $80)
CREDITS
David Whyte, PhD, Science Buddies
Edited by Ben Finio, PhD, Science Buddies
This project is based on the following 2008 California State Science fair project, a winner of the Science Buddies Clever Scientist Award:
Yaeger, T.O. Jr. (2008). Electrolyte Madness.
Recommended Project Supplies
Get the right supplies — selected and tested to work with this project.
View Kit
Objective
To investigate whether or not a sports drink provides more electrolytes than orange juice.
Introduction
"Just do it!" You have probably heard that slogan, and there is no doubt that exercise is a key part of staying healthy. But exercising depletes
the body's stores of fluids and minerals, which must be replaced. Most experts agree that if you are engaged in light to moderate exercise,
drinking a glass or two of water should do the trick. But if you are exercising strenuously, you also need to replenish some of the salts that your
body loses through sweat. These salts, or electrolytes, are found in most sports drinks, and also in natural juices like orange juice.
What advantages does a sports drink have over water? Water provides the liquid you need to avoid dehydration, but it does not have
electrolytes. An electrolyte is a substance that will dissociate into ions in a solution. The ions in the solution give it the capacity to conduct
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
, electricity. Electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, are present in sweat. Chloride, calcium, and phosphate ions are also electrolytes.
The proper concentration of electrolytes in your blood is essential to your health. Your cardiovascular and nervous systems—to name just two
—require electrolytes to function well. Differences in the concentration of sodium and potassium inside and outside of cells allow your nerve
and muscle fibers to send electrical impulses (which is how these cells communicate and get your body to react and move).
Your body keeps the concentration of the various electrolytes in its fluids within a narrow range, and this process depends on consuming
enough water and electrolytes. The maintenance of electrolytes within this narrow range is due to the body's homeostatic mechanisms,
which control the absorption, distribution, and excretion of water and its dissolved electrolytes.
To measure the electrolytes in this science project, you will use a multimeter. A multimeter is an electronic device that measures voltage,
current, and resistance. You can learn more about these terms in the Science Buddies Electronics Primer. For this project, you will use just
the ammeter part of the multimeter. An ammeter measures current. The procedure will describe what you need to do, but you can learn more
about what a multimeter is and how to use one in the Science Buddies resource How to Use a Multimeter.
How can you use an ammeter to measure the concentration of electrolytes? You will use it to measure conductance, which is proportional
to the electrolyte concentration. Because electrolytes are charged particles that carry current in solution, the conductance of the solution
depends on the concentration of the electrolytes. If you increase the concentration of electrolytes in a solution, the conductance of the solution
also increases. In order to measure a current in the solutions, you have to apply a voltage. You will use a 9 volt (V) battery to supply the voltage.
The symbol for conductance is G and it is measured in units called siemens (S). The symbol for current is I, and it is measured in amperes
(A), commonly called amps for short. The symbol for voltage is V and it is measured in volts (also abbreviated V). Calculating the
conductance is easy—it is the current divided by the voltage, as shown in Equation 1.
Equation 1.
● G is conductance, measured in siemens (S).
● I is current, measured in amperes (A).
● V is the voltage, measured in volts (V).
Note that conductance is the inverse of resistance, which is measured in ohms (Ω, the capital Greek letter Omega). The symbol for
resistance is R, so G = 1/R (1 S = 1 / Ω). Equation 1 is just another form of Ohm's law, which uses resistance instead of conductance: V = IR.
Finally, in this project the amount of current you will measure is fairly small. That makes it more convenient to take your measurements in
milliamps (mA), thousandths of an amp; or microamps (μA), millionths of an amp. However, before you plug your current reading into
Equation 1, you must convert the measurement back to amps. The procedure will explain how to do this.
Do not worry if you find it difficult to remember all the letters and symbols. Table 1 summarizes the electrical variables, their units, and
abbreviations.
Quantity Variable Unit Unit Symbol
Voltage V Volt V
Current I Ampere A
Resistance R Ohm Ω
Conductance G Siemens S
Table 1. Electrical variables, their units, and abbreviations.
Terms and Concepts
● Electrolyte
● Dissociate
● Ion
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
Abstract
The makers of sports drinks spend tens to hundreds of millions of dollars advertising their products each year. Among the benefits often
featured in these ads are the beverages' high level of electrolytes, which your body loses as you sweat. In this science project, you will
compare the amount of electrolytes in a sports drink with those in orange juice to find out which has more electrolytes to replenish the ones
you lose as you work out or play sports. When you are finished, you might even want to make your own sports drink!
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
,Summary
AREAS OF SCIENCE
Chemistry
Sports Science
Diabetes
DIFFICULTY
TIME REQUIRED
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
PREREQUISITES
None
MATERIAL AVAILABILITY
Specialty electronics items are required. A kit is available from our partner Home Science Tools. See the Materials section for details.
COST
Average ($40 - $80)
CREDITS
David Whyte, PhD, Science Buddies
Edited by Ben Finio, PhD, Science Buddies
This project is based on the following 2008 California State Science fair project, a winner of the Science Buddies Clever Scientist Award:
Yaeger, T.O. Jr. (2008). Electrolyte Madness.
Recommended Project Supplies
Get the right supplies — selected and tested to work with this project.
View Kit
Objective
To investigate whether or not a sports drink provides more electrolytes than orange juice.
Introduction
"Just do it!" You have probably heard that slogan, and there is no doubt that exercise is a key part of staying healthy. But exercising depletes
the body's stores of fluids and minerals, which must be replaced. Most experts agree that if you are engaged in light to moderate exercise,
drinking a glass or two of water should do the trick. But if you are exercising strenuously, you also need to replenish some of the salts that your
body loses through sweat. These salts, or electrolytes, are found in most sports drinks, and also in natural juices like orange juice.
What advantages does a sports drink have over water? Water provides the liquid you need to avoid dehydration, but it does not have
electrolytes. An electrolyte is a substance that will dissociate into ions in a solution. The ions in the solution give it the capacity to conduct
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
, electricity. Electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, are present in sweat. Chloride, calcium, and phosphate ions are also electrolytes.
The proper concentration of electrolytes in your blood is essential to your health. Your cardiovascular and nervous systems—to name just two
—require electrolytes to function well. Differences in the concentration of sodium and potassium inside and outside of cells allow your nerve
and muscle fibers to send electrical impulses (which is how these cells communicate and get your body to react and move).
Your body keeps the concentration of the various electrolytes in its fluids within a narrow range, and this process depends on consuming
enough water and electrolytes. The maintenance of electrolytes within this narrow range is due to the body's homeostatic mechanisms,
which control the absorption, distribution, and excretion of water and its dissolved electrolytes.
To measure the electrolytes in this science project, you will use a multimeter. A multimeter is an electronic device that measures voltage,
current, and resistance. You can learn more about these terms in the Science Buddies Electronics Primer. For this project, you will use just
the ammeter part of the multimeter. An ammeter measures current. The procedure will describe what you need to do, but you can learn more
about what a multimeter is and how to use one in the Science Buddies resource How to Use a Multimeter.
How can you use an ammeter to measure the concentration of electrolytes? You will use it to measure conductance, which is proportional
to the electrolyte concentration. Because electrolytes are charged particles that carry current in solution, the conductance of the solution
depends on the concentration of the electrolytes. If you increase the concentration of electrolytes in a solution, the conductance of the solution
also increases. In order to measure a current in the solutions, you have to apply a voltage. You will use a 9 volt (V) battery to supply the voltage.
The symbol for conductance is G and it is measured in units called siemens (S). The symbol for current is I, and it is measured in amperes
(A), commonly called amps for short. The symbol for voltage is V and it is measured in volts (also abbreviated V). Calculating the
conductance is easy—it is the current divided by the voltage, as shown in Equation 1.
Equation 1.
● G is conductance, measured in siemens (S).
● I is current, measured in amperes (A).
● V is the voltage, measured in volts (V).
Note that conductance is the inverse of resistance, which is measured in ohms (Ω, the capital Greek letter Omega). The symbol for
resistance is R, so G = 1/R (1 S = 1 / Ω). Equation 1 is just another form of Ohm's law, which uses resistance instead of conductance: V = IR.
Finally, in this project the amount of current you will measure is fairly small. That makes it more convenient to take your measurements in
milliamps (mA), thousandths of an amp; or microamps (μA), millionths of an amp. However, before you plug your current reading into
Equation 1, you must convert the measurement back to amps. The procedure will explain how to do this.
Do not worry if you find it difficult to remember all the letters and symbols. Table 1 summarizes the electrical variables, their units, and
abbreviations.
Quantity Variable Unit Unit Symbol
Voltage V Volt V
Current I Ampere A
Resistance R Ohm Ω
Conductance G Siemens S
Table 1. Electrical variables, their units, and abbreviations.
Terms and Concepts
● Electrolyte
● Dissociate
● Ion
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Chem_p053/chemistry/electrolyte-challenge-orange-juice-vs-sports-drink 2022-08-06
