Electrical Power?

Question

To my understanding, voltage is produced by the imbalance of the two sides of the electrodes, which sort of "pushes" and creates a current of electricity. What is the point of the electrolyte in a battery in relation to the volts produced?

To my understanding, voltage is produced by the imbalance of the two sides of the electrodes, which sort of "pushes" and creates a current of electricity. What is the point of the electrolyte in a battery in relation to the volts produced?

To be more specific, I'm doing an experiment where I'm using fruits as the electrolytes and copper and zinc as the electrodes. Would the voltages supplied by each fruit be different? If so, what is the cause?

Answer 1

Two purposes: to support the chemical reaction by supplying reactants, and to complete the current path. The voltage of a cell depends on the reactions at each electrode, and for any cell can be determined by looking up the half-cell potential for the chemistry of each electrode and adding them together. Half-cell potentials are given in the reference.

Answer 2

The electrolyte completes the circuit by supplying ions between the two charged plates

Answer 3

The voltage depends on the anode and cathode materials, not the electolyte (in the fruit). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_cell