Electricity From Water

Project Number: 66

Description: Assemble the liquid energy source using the instructions on page 4. Build the circuit and connect the red & black jumper wires; the red wire goes to the copper electrode. Set the meter (M6) to the 5V setting. Fill the compartments with water. The meter shows the voltage produced, if there is. Set the meter to the 0.5mA setting to see how much current your water can supply, if it does. If the reading is higher than 0.5mA, push the press switch to change the current scale to 5mA. (The switch adds a 47 ohm resistor in the pivot stand to the circuit, changing the current scale on the meter. It should not be used with the 5V setting.) Try dissolving some salt in the water in all four compartments. The voltage and the current should be higher now. If you have some distilled water, test it too (rinse out the salt water first). The voltage and the current produced should be zero now. Don't drink any water used in this project. Wash the electrodes and the liquid holder.

Snappy: The water in some areas are slightly acidic due to impurities in it. This may be strong enough to produce electricity by reacting with the electrodes, similar to how a battery works. These impurities should be safe to drink. Distilled water has almost no impurities.