#118. Shock Them All

Science, level: Elementary
Posted by Kem L. Kieth (kkeith3403@aol.com).
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN usa
Activity Time: 35-40 minutes
Concepts Taught: How A Battery Works

Shock Them All

Instructional Objective: TWL have an understanding of what a battery is made of and how it works

Materials Needed: lemon juice, 9 1' X 1' strips of paper towels, 5 pennies, 5 dimes

Set: Want to shock your friends? You can do it by repeating anexperiment first dome
by the Italian physicist Allessandra volta 200 years ago.

Instruction: Soak the paper towel strips in the lemon juice. Make a pile of coins, alternating dimes
and pennies. Separate each one with a lemon-soaked strip of paper towel. Moisten one finger tip on
each hand and hold the pile between your fingers. You will get a shock or tingle.

Closure: You have mad a wet cell, the forerunner of the batter we buy at the store. The lemon juice, an acid
solution, conducts the electricty created by the separated metals of the coins. What we call a batter is actually
two or dry cells. In each dry cell, 2 metals (a zinc metal container and a carbon rod( are separated by blotting
paper soaked in a strong acid.