Find Out How To Make A Lamp Out Of Potatoes
If you liked physics and chemistry when you went to school, then this little experiment will be something for you. Find out how to make a lamp out of potatoes below!
All you need is a potato. When you add some simple materials that you can find in a home appliances store, then this starch can create an element within the new generation of eco-friendly houses.
Haim Rabinowitch at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, has been working for several years to create an object capable of extracting the energy stored in potatoes.
This study was born out of the idea of helping people who do not have access to an electrical network.
According to Rabinowitch, one simply connects this root vegetable with a few metal wires, screws and of course an LED bulb to create artificial lighting in different rooms.
This study found that a simple potato can be used to light up a room for about 40 days.
How to make a lamp out of potatoes
What you need to make a lamp out of potatoes are:
- 2 small potatoes (cooked for 8 minutes)
- 3 copper wires
- 2 copper rods or wires
- 2 zinc rods or nails
- 1 small bulb, 1.5W
How to make it
- Twist the copper wires around the two wires or copper rods.
- Stick them both into a potato.
- Twist the third copper wire around the zinc rod and insert it into the potato.
- Take the tip of the copper wire in the potato and twist it around the zinc rod.
- Put the last zinc root in the second potato.
- Get the two loose ends of wires in contact with the bulb (be careful not to touch the copper)
- Are you ready? It will light up the room!
that’s how it works
The potato does not really generate electricity. It contains ascorbic acid. This substance together with copper electrodes and zinc results in electrons moving from one place to another using this natural product as their driving force.
This phenomenon is known as the “redox reaction”. And it has the ability to turn on and power several different electrical appliances.
“Potatoes are chosen because they can be grown almost anywhere, including in tropical and subtropical climates. They are the richest crop in the world. ”
-Haim Rabinowitch-
Some story about a lamp of potatoes!
According to Rabinowitch, potatoes are the most widely used food in schools to teach children about science. But until now, no one has conducted a study on using this tuber as a source of energy.
Physicists Allesandro Volta and Luigi Galvani have already studied various methods of generating energy back in 1780, such as:
- Paper dipped in salt water.
- To make “batteries” using two metal discs and a lot of soil or a bucket of water.
The mystery of the lamp of potatoes
If this experiment demonstrated the function and usefulness of the lamp of potatoes, then why is it not used everywhere?
According to Tabinowitch, they simply lack “research and dissemination, so people will start using potatoes to produce large amounts of energy, especially in areas where electricity is not available.”
However, there are many people who are against this method of generating electricity from food.
Biodiesel, which critics claim takes food away from hungry or starving people to produce energy, is considered not to be a successful or appropriate decision.
However, statistics show that around 360 million tonnes of potatoes are produced worldwide. In addition to being easy to store and durable, they are also inexpensive to produce.
It is precisely for this reason that this kind of technology can be economically viable to develop and implement in places with a shortage of electricity.
The manufacture of zinc and copper wires is also a little bit cheaper than a kerosene lamp. The problem, however, stems from the fact that the use of food to light up a room does not appeal to the majority of the population.
“It’s a source of low voltage, but it’s enough to build an object that can charge cell phones and laptops in places where there is no electricity.”
-Haim Rabinowitch-
