Making a Battery With Household Items
My son's and I made this battery a few years ago. Our first attempt was unsuccessful, but our second try worked like a charm. I encourage you to give it a second go, if the first battery fails. The process does not take long, especially if you make extra supplies to begin with. It is worth the additional effort, to see this battery work.
This battery is not strong enough to light up a light bulb, but it will make a spark.
This experiment can be done almost entirely by the children. Very little adult supervision is needed, and the kids will be so encouraged by their independent triumph.
Making a Battery
You will need:
- 20 or so pennies
- Cardboard
- Water
- Salt
- Aluminum Foil
- Coated wire
- Tape
Directions:
- Dissolve a few tablespoons of salt into a glass of water.
- Trace one of the pennies onto the cardboard, about 20 times
- Trace one of the pennies onto the aluminum foil about 20 times.
- Cut out the aluminum and cardboard circles.
- Be careful to make sure all of the circles are the same size. The more you cut, the better the battery will be.
- Soak the cardboard circles in the salt water solution, for about 20 minutes.
- Begin to stack the coins, foil, and cardboard in this order: Coin, Soaked Cardboard circle and Foil circle
- Continue to stack the supplies in this order until you have at least 10 sets, stacked together.
- On the bottom of the stack there should be a penny, and the top of the stack should also end with a penny.
- Cut two pieces of wire, about 4 inches long, each.
- Strip all the ends of the wires.
- Tape one wire to the top penny, and one wire to the bottom penny.
- Now, find a dark room, like a closet, and go in.
- Allow yourself a minute to adjust to the darkness.
- Touch the two loose ends of the wire together.
- This should create a spark!
- If not, go back and add a few more sets of coin, cardboard and foil, and try again.
The bigger the stack of supplies, the better the battery will be.
You must use pennies, because they are copper. Other non-copper coins will not work.
Try making a bigger stack to see if you get a bigger spark!
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