Materials
1 potato
3 to 4 in. copper wire with the insulation removed, #12 or #18 is ok, (a copper penny works too)
1 steel nail, #6 or 8 is good
1 zinc plated nail, #6 or 8 works fine
Small piece of sand paper
Wire pliers or a knife to remove insulation (not shown)
A voltmeter that can read to at least tenths of a volt
Preparation
To prepare for the potato battery project, simply gather the materials, remove insulation off the wire and lightly sand the nail ends so they will interact well with the potato.
Since the lemon and potato battery projects share the same steps, general concepts and “how it works” explanation, not all of that project info is repeated here. Major steps are listed, but please refer to the lemon battery experiment if more details are needed to conduct this lab.
The nails and wire will be our test terminals for the potato battery. It does not matter which you start with, so pick any two to begin the experiment. Insert the ends about an inch deep into the potato and get them as close as you can without touching each other. (If they touch, no voltage difference will show and the meter will not move. If this happens, the battery is said to be ‘shorted’. Just pick a new spot on the potato and trying again).
Put the voltmeter on a DC setting. As an optional step, test the voltmeter on an actual battery (C for ex.) if you have one handy. Although not a necessary step for the project itself, it is a good time to discuss polarity if class schedule permits. It is easy to see which terminal is the cathode (+) and which is the anode (-) on a battery because they are stamped on it. By looking at the voltmeter display and swapping the red and black leads from one end of the battery to the other, you can show how the meter displays a minus sign one way, and not the other. This information can then be used to determine which of our test terminals acts as the cathode (+) and which is the anode (-).
Touch the red and black meter leads to the test terminals in the potato battery. (I tried steel and copper first). Take note of the reading, but don’t get too concerned if the values each group sees are different. Readings will probably vary from setup to setup, and from trial to trial. There are a few variables we can’t control with this setup, but getting a voltage reading at all … and noting the relative values of the readings as we try different terminal materials is what is important at this point.
Shift to another terminal combination. Zinc and steel are shown to the right. Again, note the voltage. Higher? Lower?
Try the final terminal set. As in the lemon battery project, you should see why zinc and copper make good terminals.
Take the voltmeter leads off the terminals and hold them apart. Note that there is no meter reading. Touch the leads themselves together. There is still no meter reading. Try poking the ends of the leads directly into the potato without touching the test terminals. Note again that no meter deflection occurs. A meter deflection only occurs when we set up the potato battery in one of the arrangements shown above. We need two dissimilar metals as the battery terminals, and they must be inserted into the potato for the battery to work.
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