Persisting


 * __Persisting__**

In our oxidation-reduction lab, we examined how a chemical battery created a current due to redox reactions. In it, we would create our own battery and attempt to reach 1.5v on it. For my battery, I wanted to replicate an alkaline battery, specifically a carbon-zinc battery. Although examples given on the internet are of dry cells, I decided to recreate it with a wet electrolyte it.

To create it involved a very tedious process, particularly involving the carbon/manganese dioxide electrolytic paste. To create it involved the manganese dioxide, which stained. Also, the paste was particularly difficult to handle after being made, due to its very sticky and goopy nature. However, to properly create the battery, we needed to create enough and put it into the beaker by hand.

As if this weren't enough, for our variable experiment, we decided to create five cells, so we needed to create even more paste to use. Doing this caused my hands to be stained lightly black for a while, but it had to be done for the experiment to work. In the end, it was a sacrifice worth making because our hypothesis proved correct. Granted, we only had one trial run, but the fact that it worked very successfully made a stained hand just a slight cost.

In the future, when considering what needs to be done, persisting is an important trait. It will definitely involve sacrifices, because to keep moving on means having higher costs, including time, one of the most valuable resources. But in the end, persisting will always lead to a lesson to keep, whether it be making a major discovery, or simply learning that this method won't work, and should be avoided in future experiments. But in any case, negative or positive lessons alike, persisting will always lead to something valuable, and this should be kept as a reminder when you feel like there's no point in continuing.