How to Colonize an Asteroid

Home-Made Battery: Activate the Battery

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You will need;
Your assembled battery
Enough water to fill all of the jars
A couple of cups of cider vinegar
A tablespoon

 
 To activate the battery, remove the electrode assembly and set it aside. If your wires are long enough, you should be able to lift it out of the battery assembly and set it down without disconnecting anything. If the wires are too short, disconnect them from the terminals on the end before removing the electrodes.

 Add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar to each jar (white vinegar will work too, but I did not want the electrolyte to look like water, and the cider vinegar gives it a lovely yellowish color). Fill the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top with normal tap water. You must leave room for the liquid which will be displaced by the electrodes. You will probably find that the jars are easier to fill if you lift them out of the base.

Once the jars are filled, reinstall the electrode assembly. Insert the electrodes into the jars and be careful not to splash. If you had to disconnect you electrode wires above, you can reconnect them now. Your battery is now complete and ready for testing! Connect a voltmeter to the terminals and set it to read up to 5 volts dc. (Auto ranging meters rule!) You should read about 2.6 volts dc with no load (nothing connected) to the battery.

© 1999, Robert Lyon Richards