Make a battery using coins and vinegar.
If you have a few quarters lying around at home and some extra vinegar in the pantry, you can make a homemade battery. An excellent way to demonstrate basic electrical concepts to students, this homemade battery can even be used to power a small voltage light emitting diode (LED). Make the battery as long as you like to create a more powerful energy source.
Instructions
1. Cut 10 circles of aluminum foil that are exactly the same diameter as a quarter and 10 circles of blotting paper that are slightly larger.
2. Pour a splash of vinegar into the bowl. Add several pinches of table salt and mix thoroughly with a spoon. The salt-vinegar combination creates an ion-rich solution that will be used to power your battery.
3. Add your blotting paper circles to the solution and let them soak for a few minutes.
4. Attach one end of copper wire to an aluminum foil circle with the masking tape.
5. Place a circle of blotting paper on the other side of the aluminum foil circle, and then place a quarter. Repeat this pattern until you have used all 10 quarters, aluminum foil circles and blotting paper circles.
6. Tape one end of another piece of copper wire to the final quarter with masking tape. Your battery is ready to be connected to the LED.
7. Twist the ends of the copper wire pieces onto the LED terminals. Ensure that the copper wire you taped to the circle of aluminum foil first is connected to the negative LED terminal, which is denoted by the flat plastic rim above the wire lead.
Tags: aluminum foil, copper wire, aluminum foil circle, blotting paper, blotting paper