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During the time that I was building the fuel cell, and afterwards, experimenting with it, I kept a logbook where I recorded all of my observations. In this report, I have included all the sources of error observed during the time of the experiment, along with all the results, and observations, Enjoy!

Before I start to write down information and results in this logbook, I would like to first describe its purpose. I am using this logbook to demonstrate my knowledge of the scientific method, and as a place to write down my raw results before I analyze them and draw my conclusions. Without further ado, here is my logbook.Opening Speech to Video: Hello everyone, I am Vincent Iacono, and this is my experiment. Today, I will build and experiment with a fuel cell. Before I get the building underway, I would like to describe the materials I am using. First of all, the glass is the base of our fuel cell, where the fuel will be stored. The bridge and the adhesive tape will help in making the fuel cell. The battery and battery clips will help introduce energy into the fuel cell, a process which I will describe later. We will use the volt meter to measure the energy that the fuel cell is producing. The different things you see in the corner will all be my independent variables; I will talk more about them later on. Finally, this piece of wire is the cornerstone of this experiment. Believe it or not, it is platinum coated, and platinum has special characteristics that are responsible for the fuel cell working. I am now done building the fuel cell, to test it. I am filling up the wine glass with approximately 550 ml of water to test out the fuel cell. Underneath this, I will write my observations, and the results. This is not official, it is a test.Before I do this, I would just like to say that I extended the leads because they were too short for my liking.I didn’t make that many observations. I was a bit surprised that nothing could be seen happening where I was, but I assume with a microscope, you could have seen something. I thought that I would have been able to see the hydrogen and oxygen bubbles, but was not able. When I attached the battery, the volt meter read approximately 5 volts. When I took the battery off, it said a little over 2 volts. It decreased rapidly at first, but over time, it got slower. This basically proves that the fuel cell can run without the need of a battery, and that all it needs is hydrogen and oxygen. While I’m thinking, I would like to write down that the reason why people don’t use fuel cells globally yet is that hydrogen is not readily available, and the platinum is rare, and very expensive.Finally, the test was a great success, the fuel cell works, and I feel that I am ready for the experiment.I just finished filming the test of my experiment, and realized a source of error in my experiment. I was not able to get an exact measurement of water into the glass, but an approximate one, because the measuring cup measures in to large increments. For this reason, the water amount might not be exact; I have no other measuring cups, so I will have to make do. I was thinking about the experiment, and found another source of error. While attaching the leads to the electrode, and extending the leads, I did not coat the wire, so I think that some electricity might be lost in the process. This however, does not affect the outcome of the experiment because all of the different independent variables will be set-back by this. My original test measurements might be a bit skewed by this.I am about to start the experiment for the individual variable: tap water. I am going to use 550 ml of water, which will be the same for every other independent variable.

Trial 1
0 seconds: 4.03
30 seconds: .32
1 minute: .16
We didn’t finish, the volt meter turned off, we will do it again.
Trial 2
0 seconds: 3.96
30 seconds: .25 
1 minute: .17
1:30 minutes: .13
2 minutes: 
Both times, the volt meter turned off, we are going to replace the battery, 
and continue.
I have decided not to count these because they were not good, and I have 
altered the fuel cell a bit. 
I have re-adjusted my fuel cell by not using a precise measurement of fuel, just 
so that the platinum touches it.
Normal Tap Water
Trial 1
0 seconds: 2.74
30 seconds: 0.9
1 minute: 0.79
1:30 minutes: 0.73
2 minutes: 0.68
2:30 minutes: 0.65
3 minutes: 0.62
3:30 minutes: 0.59
4 minutes: 0.57
4:30 minutes: 0.55
5 minutes: 0.53
This will be considered as my first trial in three trials for my research on tap water.
Trial 2
0 seconds: 2.15
30 seconds: 0.85
1 minute: 0.77
1:30 minutes: 0.71
2 minutes: 0.67
2:30 minutes: 0.63
3 minutes: 0.6
3:30 minutes: 0.58
4 minutes: 0.56
4:30 minutes: 0.54
5 minutes: 0.52
Trial 3
0 seconds: 2.76
30 seconds: 0.87
1 minute: 0.77
1:30 minutes: 0.7
2 minutes: 0.65
2:30 minutes: 0.61
3 minutes: 0.59
3:30 minutes: 0.57
4 minutes: 0.55
4:30 minutes: 0.53
5 minutes: 0.52
After doing my three tests, I see a problem with the 0 seconds part, and 
will do three more experiments that are after ten, to make sure that I am 
not reading the volt meter wrong.
10 seconds: 0.97
10 seconds: 0.98
10 seconds: 0.97
Now, I will experiment with 50 ml of salt in normal tap water, and see if 
there is a difference.
Trial 1
10 seconds: 1.05
30 seconds: 0.89
1 minute: 0.82
1:30 minutes: 0.79
2 minutes: 0.74
2:30 minutes: 0.27
3 minutes: 0.05
3:30 minutes: 0.04
4 minutes: 0.04
4:30 minutes: 0.03
5 minutes: 0.02
This was a very weird trial; it dropped suddenly in the middle. If the other trials do not do 
this, I will not include this one because it is an outlier.
Trial 2
10 seconds: 0.89
30 seconds: 0.77
1 minute: 0.18
1:30 minutes: 0.08
2 minutes: 0.05
2:30 minutes: 0.03
3 minutes: 0.01
3:30 minutes: 0.0
4 minutes: 0.0
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0.0
I guess the previous trial was not an outlier. Right now, 
I hypothesize that there is a great drop in voltage because the salt water has run out of fuel.
Trial 3
10 seconds: 1.18
30 seconds: 0.82
1 minute: 0.6
1:30 minutes: 0.12
2 minutes: 0.06
2:30 minutes: 0.04
3 minutes: 0.02
3:30 minutes: 0.01
4 minutes: 0.0
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0.0
Trial 3
10 seconds: 1.18
30 seconds: 0.83
1 minute: 0.69
1:30 minutes: 0.2
2 minutes: 0.11
2:30 minutes: 0.07
3 minutes: 0.04
3:30 minutes: 0.02
4 minutes: 0.01
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0.0
For the experiment with 50 ml of vinegar, I died the vinegar blue, 
so I could make sure that it was diluted. It worked, so here are my results.
Trial 1
10 seconds: 0.67
30 seconds: 0.29
1 minute: 0.11
1:30 minutes: 0.03
2 minutes: 0.0
2:30 minutes: 0.0
3 minutes: 0.0
3:30 minutes: 0.0
4 minutes: 0.0
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0,0
Trial 2
10 seconds: 0.6
30 seconds: 0.32
1 minute: 0.07
1:30 minutes: 0.01
2 minutes: 0.0
2:30 minutes: 0.0
3 minutes: 0.0
3:30 minutes: 0.0
4 minutes: 0.0
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0.0
Trial 3
10 seconds: 0.7
30 seconds: 0.46
1 minute: 0.2
1:30 minutes: 0.05
2 minutes: 0.0
2:30 minutes: 0.0
3 minutes: 0.0
3:30 minutes: 0.0
4 minutes: 0.0
4:30 minutes: 0.0
5 minutes: 0.0
This will be my fourth set of trials, it is with 50 ml of soap in the water.
Trial 1
10 seconds: 0.71
30 seconds: 0.6
1 minute: 0.51
1:30 minutes: 0.45
2 minutes: 0.4
2:30 minutes: 0.36
3 minutes: 0.33
3:30 minutes: 0.3
4 minutes: 0.28
4: 30 minutes: 0.25
5 minutes: 0.23
Trial 2
10 seconds: 0.73
30 seconds: 0.61
1 minute: 0.52
1:30 minutes: 0.44
2 minutes: 0.38
2:30 minutes: 0.33
3 minutes: 0.28
3:30 minutes: 0.24
4 minutes: 0.2
4: 30 minutes: 0.17
5 minutes: 0.15
Trial 3
10 seconds: 0.74
30 seconds: 0.6
1 minute: 0.5
1:30 minutes: 0.42
2 minutes: 0.36
2:30 minutes: 0.3
3 minutes: 0.25
3:30 minutes: 0.21
4 minutes: 0.18
4: 30 minutes: 0.15
5 minutes: 0.13
For my final set of trials, I will use distilled 
water, filled to the brim.
Trial 1
10 seconds: 0.78
30 seconds: 0.62
1 minute: 0.54
1:30 minutes: 0.49
2 minutes: 0.46
2:30 minutes: 0.43
3 minutes: 0.4
3:30 minutes: 0.38
4 minutes: 0.35
4: 30 minutes: 0.33
5 minutes: 0.32
Trial 2
10 seconds: 0.8
30 seconds: 0.61
1 minute: 0.53
1:30 minutes: 0.49
2 minutes: 0.46
2:30 minutes: 0.43
3 minutes: 0.41
3:30 minutes: 0.38
4 minutes: 0.37
4: 30 minutes: 0.35
5 minutes: 0.33
Trial 3
10 seconds: 0.8
30 seconds: 0.64
1 minute: 0.56
1:30 minutes: 0.52
2 minutes: 0.48
2:30 minutes: 0.44
3 minutes: 0.42
3:30 minutes: 0.37
4 minutes: 0.35
4: 30 minutes: 0.32
5 minutes: 0.31