Penny batteries

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by John Skelton, May 20, 2022.

  1. John Skelton

    John Skelton Morgan man!

    I remember when I was young and going through my junior scientist project book reading about making a small battery using coins. I never did it because there were a lot more interesting projects to do without using ice cream money!

    So what about you all? Did you ever do such a project? I just watched a YouTube video about how to do it and it looks simple enough. It may also explain why we see pennies with one side filed down.
     
    LakeEffect likes this.
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  3. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    No such projects here but all I had was my transistor radio with a single 9-volt battery. When the battery died I removed it and wrapped the posts with 2 5”-6” pieces of a soft solder that my dad had. Then I held the battery with insulated pliers. I was only 7 or 8 but smart enough to respect electricity.

    What I did next I do not recommend but it did work for me. I stuck the solder wires into the power plugs in the wall. The solder light up in a sudden flash and disappeared. Not a trace anywhere. The plug still work. No marks on the wall and my battery was fully charged.
     
  4. John Skelton

    John Skelton Morgan man!

    Really? I can't imagine it would actually charge the battery. My parents knew I'd be upset if I couldn't listen to the Mercury space launches so they always had batteries for my transistor radio.
     
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  5. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    I just listened to the Oldies as we call them nowadays. I didn’t have a quarter to buy a new battery. Neither did my parents. To me nothing was better than hearing Herman’s Hermits, Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis on my transistor. :)
     
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  6. Kurisu

    Kurisu Well-Known Member

    penny bat.jpg
     
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  7. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    Ah, science projects from childhood. The good memories, which today's youth will never know. If it isn't instant gratification, they pass it by.
     
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  8. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    Let's not forget the crystal radios, too. Many a night looking for stations on that thing.
     
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  9. John Skelton

    John Skelton Morgan man!

    Yeah, I had one of those things, too. And two rudimentary computers! A couple of chemistry sets and a celery stick in a jar of water and red ink!
     
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  10. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    The only experiment I did with cents as a kid was when a buddy told me if I put one under my tongue and went to the nurse that it would raise my temperature and they would send me home…… Didn’t work though. Seems you aren’t supposed to let the school nurse see the cent when she inserts the thermometer.
     
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  11. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    I forgot the details but we made a battery using potatoes.
     
  12. Kurisu

    Kurisu Well-Known Member

     
  13. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    If you hold a copper cent and a silver dime (hmmmm) in a v shape between your thumb and index finger and stick your tongue so it touches them both, it will taste sour because of the "battery" thus created.
     
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  14. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    Come on @Mountain Man their millennials, their parents will buy them batteries! The saving grace is when they advise the Social Security Administration that their parents worked for them and all they want is SS to continue the support chain. Reality has a tendency to "kick you in the butt" when needed, right!
     
  15. LakeEffect

    LakeEffect Average Circulated Supporter

    I remember learning about electrolysis in school. Figured out I could put the wires from my HO train set transformer in a bowl of water, add an eyedropper of sulfuric acid out of the car battery. and make hydrogen gas.

    Yeah, I was a nerd, and ended up as an engineer.
     
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  16. Jim Dale

    Jim Dale Well-Known Member

    I was 12 when Christmas came in 1957. My favorite gift was a crystal radio. The first song I heard was "El Paso" by Marty Robbins. If that doesn't age you, you're probably older than I am.
     
  17. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    One of my favorite 'toys' as a child.....

    My Gilbert Chemistry Set

    upload_2022-5-28_19-1-17.png
     
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  18. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    The ball games for me
     
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  19. Cheech9712

    Cheech9712 Every thing is a guess

    That was fun
     
  20. LakeEffect

    LakeEffect Average Circulated Supporter

    Remember late at night when you could get AM stations from hundreds of miles away? You might pick up a Twins game from Minnesota or a Cardinals game from St Louis. Seemed magical to me, now you can get anything you want anytime. Progress...
     
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  21. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    Only if it’s the Orioles. :)
     
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