Does Soil Function as an Electrical System?

Does soil function as a type of electrical system? Hypothesis-

I believe that soil does act as an electrical system. I believe the moisture in it is probably enough to carry some electric currents. Materials-

-60 grams of soil

-One 500 mL beaker

-Two pieces of 12 gauge, plastic insulated, twisted copper wire about 20 inches

long

-One 6-volt dry-charge lantern battery with two screw top terminals at the top of
the battery

Procedures-

Place 60 grams of the soil in the 500 mL beaker.

Add 500 mL of water to beaker with the soil.

Stir the container until the water is completely mixed with the soil.

Let the soil materials settle for 10 minutes.

On each end of the copper wires, remove the insulation and strip back to expose the bare wire for about 2 inches at the end of the wires.

Connect one end of each wire to the terminals of the battery and screw the terminal cap tight to fix the wire to the terminal.

Place each of the other ends of the electrical wires in the soil about 2 inches below the top of the water line in the beaker holding the soil. Make sure the bare ends of the two wires are spaced about 2 inches apart and do not touch each other. Mark or note which of the two wires is connected to the positive end and which is connected to the negative end.

Leave the wire electrodes in the clay slurry for about 10 to 15 minutes and then pull them out to see what happened. Controls-

Three different soils were used in the experiment. All were found around my house. One was just natural ground soil. The second was planting soil. The third was another plant soil.

Variables-

There was only one manipulated variable: The soil type. Other than that, the setup was the same for all three. The experiment produced some minor responding variables which will be reported later. Data-

This experiment was basically completely qualitative. It did not rely on precise measurement to show the results. All three soils produced nearly identical results. There were no major differences that would make me believe the different soils are better/worse electrical systems.

In all three the soil bonds to the electrodes. The negatively charged electrode seemed to have more soil parts bonded to it.

Results-

My hypothesis was proven true, although it was a little bit different than what I was expecting. The experiments proved that soil can, in fact, function as an electrical system. I did not expect the differently charged electrodes to have different effects like they did. The different charges attract different particles. Conclusion-

The results of the experiments support my hypothesis. The results of the experiment could have been heavily affected by the amount of water. This was probably the most important factor in the experiments. If I had added 450 mL instead of 500 mL or kept the same amount of water with less soil there would have been major changes, most likely. Applications-

The only use for this method that I can think of would be for separating particles out of soil. If there was a particular nutrient etc. this could be useful for extracting it from soil. Acknowledgements-

The project was done without the help of parents, friends, or family. However, I am very thankful for the people who put up great resources on the Internet. These people who take their time to help others and make work easier have been helpful to me on many occasions. Abstract-

The purpose of my experiment was to test how soil acts as an electrical system. This was done by using a battery, two electrodes, soil, and water. I hypothesized that water does work as an electrical system and was correct. The particles were attracted to the electrodes. Research-

In my experiment I test if soil acts as an electrical system by using soil and seeing if soil particles become attracted to two oppositely charged electrodes, which are probed into the soil. Anions go to the positive electrode and cations are attracted to the positive electrodes.

I proved that soil is an electric system and that it does attract oppositely charged particles. The soil and water level has a lot to do with this experiment. In my research, I found that this experiment can be demonstrated better with clay soil but it was not available and regular soil works as well.