BUILD YOUR OWN BATTERY

BY ALEX HABENICHT

QUESTION:
What is the effect of the number of pieces of copper, zinc and paper
towels on the amount of voltage produced?

PREDICTION:
I predict that the electricity will decrease as the number of disks are
reduced.

MATERIALS:
* Copper coins or washers (at least 10, all the same size)
* Cup of water with 10 teaspoons salt in it
* Copper wire
* Baking foil or zinc washers
* Kitchen paper towels
* Tape
* Scissors
* Voltage meter

MANIPULATED VARIABLES:
I changed the number of cells I used in the battery (1-copper, 1-zinc, 1-
papertowel)

CONTROLLED VARIABLE:
I kept the size of my coins/disks the same.
PROCEDURES AND SET UP DIAGRAM:
1. From your stock of same-sized copper coins, take one and draw
around it lots of times onto a sheet of a paper towel. Cut out the shapes,
then wet the disks in very salty water.

2. Pile the disks in groups of three. First copper, then paper towel, then
zinc - one on top of each other until you have completed the pile. Each
group of three disks makes one cell. The whole pile makes a battery.

3. Using a Voltmeter, measure the amount of electricity produced as a

whole battery by placing the red end of the Voltmeter on the positive
(zinc) side of the battery and the black end on the negative (copper)
side. Record your data. Then, repeat step 2 using only 2/3 of the
battery. Repeat step 2 the final time using only 1/3 of the battery.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times.

RESULTS AND DATA COLLECTION:

TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2 TRIAL 3 TOTAL

With nine I With nine I With nine I The total is
got 1.0 got 1.0 got 1.0 1.0
With six I With six I With six I The total is .
got .5 got .7 got .5 5
With three I With tree I With three I The total is .
got .4 got .6 got .4 4

CONCLUSION:
My prediction was correct. The more disks I
removed from the battery, the less electricity
there was. As the data shows, the bigger the
battery, the more electricity you get.