1. Making a Voltaic Pile Generating Voltage: Creating energy for a cell cell

2. Making a Voltaic Pile Electrolyte Electrode Cell Battery cell

3. Making a Voltaic Pile Electrolyte liquid that can conduct electrons Electrode metal or solid conductor Cell basic unit of energy in a circuit Battery combinations of cells

4. Purpose To make a battery with enough voltage to light a bulb

5. Materials steel wool up to 10 pieces of copper up to 10 pieces of zinc 2 pieces of wire paper towel eyedropper lemon juice salt water Al foil voltmeter

6. Basic procedure 1. Polish copper and zinc pieces if necessary with steel wool. 2. Cut out circles in the paper towel (about the size of the penny). 3. Soak paper circles in lemon juice. 4. Create a “pile” by alternating paper, copper and zinc. Start with zinc, then a piece of paper and ending with a penny. 5. Connect one wire to the penny, the other to the zinc. 6. Measure voltage. 7. Add more cells (layers) to the original and measure voltage.

7. Dependent variable: Independent variable: Constant variables: Hypothesis:

8. Quantitative Data Title: Independent Variable ___________________ Dependent Variable __________________ Qualitative Data

9. Graph

10. Analysis Questions 1.Does the current change if you reverse the + and – ends of the battery? 2.What impact did adding more layers have on the voltage of the battery? 3.Do all liquids (electrolytes) work the same way? 4.If a liquid is used in the voltaic pile, how is it a dry cell? 5.How is a wet cell battery constructed?