Carrot Battery
Make a Carrot Battery
This activity uses a common carrot and two different metals to make a enough electricity to run a small digital clock.
Materials: Two Large Raw Carrots; 2 Pennies; 2 Large Galvanized Nails; 3 pieces of 6" long wire; Small Digital Clock (Tandy (Radio Shack) or Maplin - "Stick-on Timer" £3.50/ $4.99.
The digital clock can be extracted from an inexpensive alarm clock or it can be purchased from an electronics store.
Slice of about 1 inch from each carrot and discard. Place the remaining pieces next to each other, flat face down on a plate.
Strip off about 2 inches of insulation from both ends of each wire.
Wrap one end of one wire around one of the nails. Press the nail into one of the carrots pieces.
Wrap one end of another wire around one of the pennies. Do this by first laying the penny across the exposed wire. Position the penny so it is centered on the wire and almost touching where the wire insulation begins. Fold the end of the exposed wire over the top of the penny. Pinch the penny and wire between your index finger and thumb on one hand and pinch the overlapping wire with the other hand. Twist the penny until the wire tightens around the penny. Press the edge of the penny about half way into the other carrot. You could drill holes in the pennies to make it easier to attach the wires.
Attach one end of the third wire to the nail and the other end to the penny. (see photo below)
Insert the nail into the carrot that already has the penny stuck into it then stick the penny into the carrot that already has the nail stuck into it.
Pop the back off the timer and remove the button battery
Connect the two wires coming from the potato battery to the contact on the battery holder. If the clock does not illuminate the polarity (+ / -) might be incorrect. Touch the wires to the opposite contacts on the timer 's battery holder.
How does it work?
The carrot contains phosphoric acid. This acid causes chemical reactions to occur at each of
This activity uses a common carrot and two different metals to make a enough electricity to run a small digital clock.
Materials: Two Large Raw Carrots; 2 Pennies; 2 Large Galvanized Nails; 3 pieces of 6" long wire; Small Digital Clock (Tandy (Radio Shack) or Maplin - "Stick-on Timer" £3.50/ $4.99.
The digital clock can be extracted from an inexpensive alarm clock or it can be purchased from an electronics store.
Slice of about 1 inch from each carrot and discard. Place the remaining pieces next to each other, flat face down on a plate.
Strip off about 2 inches of insulation from both ends of each wire.
Wrap one end of one wire around one of the nails. Press the nail into one of the carrots pieces.
Wrap one end of another wire around one of the pennies. Do this by first laying the penny across the exposed wire. Position the penny so it is centered on the wire and almost touching where the wire insulation begins. Fold the end of the exposed wire over the top of the penny. Pinch the penny and wire between your index finger and thumb on one hand and pinch the overlapping wire with the other hand. Twist the penny until the wire tightens around the penny. Press the edge of the penny about half way into the other carrot. You could drill holes in the pennies to make it easier to attach the wires.
Attach one end of the third wire to the nail and the other end to the penny. (see photo below)
Insert the nail into the carrot that already has the penny stuck into it then stick the penny into the carrot that already has the nail stuck into it.
Pop the back off the timer and remove the button battery
Connect the two wires coming from the potato battery to the contact on the battery holder. If the clock does not illuminate the polarity (+ / -) might be incorrect. Touch the wires to the opposite contacts on the timer 's battery holder.
How does it work?
The carrot contains phosphoric acid. This acid causes chemical reactions to occur at each of