A Little About
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Ben was born in 2002. He was home-schooled since per-school by his
parents. Ben enjoys the out-doors, and likes any work that has to do with it. He is
currently in grade nine, and is being raised in B.C.
Daniel was born in July 2004. He was home schooled
by his parents since per-school. Daniel enjoys carving and
technology. Daniel is currently in grade 7 and, is being raised in
B.C.
parents. Ben enjoys the out-doors, and likes any work that has to do with it. He is
currently in grade nine, and is being raised in B.C.
Daniel was born in July 2004. He was home schooled
by his parents since per-school. Daniel enjoys carving and
technology. Daniel is currently in grade 7 and, is being raised in
B.C.
Converting Natural Energy Into Electricity
In order to display how natural energy can be converted to electricity we will conduct an experiment as an example. The experiment will be, how to power a light with a potato.
Food Battery
Objective: Can we create a functional light out of a potato/orange; how much food is needed?
Hypothesis: A potato or orange assembled correctly should be able to power a small LED clock, a light , or a music chip.
Materials:
Multiple large potatoes and oranges.
4 copper plates.
4 zinc plates.
5 X 5 inch lengths of copper wire.
1 very small light bulb, small LED clock, and a sound chip.
1 pot of water. (for boiling potatoes)
Stove.
Knife.
4 copper plates.
4 zinc plates.
5 X 5 inch lengths of copper wire.
1 very small light bulb, small LED clock, and a sound chip.
1 pot of water. (for boiling potatoes)
Stove.
Knife.
Diagram of the clock powered by the orange.
Procedure:
1. Cut the potato in half, then cut a small slit into each half, large enough to slip a Copper plate inside.
2. Wrap copper wire around each copper plate a few times. Make sure that you use separate pieces of wire for each plate. 3. Stick the the copper plates in the slits you cut into the potato halves, one in each half. 4. Wrap some of the third piece of copper wire around the zinc-plates and stick the zinc plates into each half of the potato. 5. Take the wire connected to the zinc plate and, connect it to the copper plate in the half of potato . Stick that second plate into the other potato half. 6. When you connect the two loose ends of the copper wire to the light bulb, LED light, sound chip, or clock they will light up. 7 repeat steps 2-6 with the orange and two cooked potatoes. 8 record your results. The potato light.
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The orange clock.
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Light powered by two potatoes
Results/Observations
single raw potato Orange 2 cooked potatoes
led clock. No Yes Yes(it lasted for 15 minutes then we disconnected)
light. No No Yes(6 hours and still working)
Sound chip. No No Yes(10 minutes then disconnected)
All three at the
same time. No No Yes(9 minutes then also disconnected)
- We tried U.S. pennies instead of copper plates, unfortunately this yield no results. (the same thing happened with Canadian pennies)
- We used copper strips as a substitute for the pennies. (this yielded the best results)
- It is also very important that all the wires are connected properly.
- In order to get maximum performance out of the potato you can soak it in water over night.
- We would have measured the voltage produced but we didn't have a volt meter that would measure low voltage.
single raw potato Orange 2 cooked potatoes
led clock. No Yes Yes(it lasted for 15 minutes then we disconnected)
light. No No Yes(6 hours and still working)
Sound chip. No No Yes(10 minutes then disconnected)
All three at the
same time. No No Yes(9 minutes then also disconnected)
- We tried U.S. pennies instead of copper plates, unfortunately this yield no results. (the same thing happened with Canadian pennies)
- We used copper strips as a substitute for the pennies. (this yielded the best results)
- It is also very important that all the wires are connected properly.
- In order to get maximum performance out of the potato you can soak it in water over night.
- We would have measured the voltage produced but we didn't have a volt meter that would measure low voltage.
Conclusion
The reason the raw potato didn't work is because the potato could not create enough energy, while the two cooked potatoes and the orange easily provided enough energy to power the clock, the clock, and the light. The orange could only power the clock because it didn't need a lot of energy, while the sound chip and light required more power. We believe the reason for the two cooked potato worked better than the others, is because when we cooked them it added more moisture. This allowed for the electrons to flow more freely through the potatoes.
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Resources and credits
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Energy_p010/energy/potato-battery.shtml#help
Green Science(Enviro Battery Kit) Science.howstuffworks.com |