Penny battery

Q:what is a penny battery






Osiris: a penny battery is an alternative power source we could use to power small items like for examples an Led or a small calculator.



Q:What materials are needed?

Osiris: there are 2 way of approaching this.first way is using  penny's after 1872, you will need some cardboard, sandpaper, vinegar and salt.the second method is using penny's that are before 1872 because its fully copper, also need zinc washers and salt and vinegar also using alligator  clips.

Q:How do start?

Osiris: the first overall step is to build  schematic which is basically a drawing to show how you plan on doing your battery.


Q:How do we Put it together?










Osiris:First what you will need to do is cut pieces of cardboard that fit the penny,after you cut about 8 pieces of cardboard you will need to soak them in the solution of vinegar and salt. In my case I used zinc washer and full copper pennies.(much easier)



Q:Whats next?








Osiris: Then you could begin to stack them together   first place a zinc washer the a piece of cardboard and finally a penny on top. Repeat this process until you stack 8 or 9 zinc,cardboard, and washers.




Q: Whats the final Step?

Osiris: At this point you could either test this two ways one is using a multi-meter and you could also use a Led to test it.



Q:How do we test it?










Osiris: Using a Led light you could see if what you have done works. the way to test it is first note that the top of the Battery is a penny which is the positive side and the bottom which is zinc is the negative side.Using the Led Light use the longer side to place it on the positive side and the shorter side is negative. When you connect it, should turn on.





Q:How can we add more Voltage?

Osiris:Easy, all you have to do is make another battery and connect it in series with the first one it should increase, double the voltage. and it should give you the power you need.




Q: can we make it turn on and off?

Osiris: yes here is a simple way of adding a switch and you will need is a few pieces of copper wire and a switch. the simplest way to use alligator clips attach on end to the positive leg of the led and to the switch. to the other use the wire connect to the switch and the negative side of the led on the zinc to make it switch on and off.




Q: how can we go public about this?

Osiris: there are a lot of ways you could make a blog about it. also you could share it with some people at your near school or do it for a science experiment.