MadSci Network: Physics
Query:

Re: I want to know how electricity effects plant growth.

Date: Mon Dec 14 11:30:37 1998
Posted By: Larry Lurio, Staff, Center for Materials Science and Engineering, IMM-CAT
Area of science: Physics
ID: 911187845.Ph
Message:

It is very easy to make an electric field. I have enclosed a picture of a simple scheme using a nine volt battery and two flat metal plates. All you have to do is connect up each end of the battery to one of the metal plates and you will get a uniform electric field between them. You must make sure that the two plates are electrically isolated from each other so use a good insulator like wood or plastic to separate them. If the plates are separated by a distance d and the voltage of the battery is V, then the strength of your electric field is E=V/d and points from the negative plate to the positive one. For example with a nine volt battery and two plates seperated by 0.5 cm you get an electric field of 18 V/cm. You can make a much stronger electric field if you use a sharp object like a needle instead of a plate, but the field only be strong right near the point of the needle, and it will be difficult to know its exact value.

Schematic

Unfortunately this only works if you don't have anything between the plates. If you have soil, for example, this will change the value of the electric field because charge in the soil (especially wet soil) can move around and cancel out the electric field. In addition, the plant itself can effect the value of the electric field, so the electric field inside the plant won't be the same (and will probably be significantly less) then the electric field outside the plant. Because of this it might be very complicated to interpret your results.

You might also want to look in the magazine "Science News" to look for articles on electricity and plant growth. They publish an annual index which would be a good place to start.

Larry


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