SH1727

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Ice-Tray Battery
Electric Circuitry 1

Introduction:

The modern dry-cell is developed over a course of years before it become the battery that
we all know and use. It has become such an integral part of our daily lives that we almost fail to
recognize how it got so far – from its humble beginnings as a discovery credited to Alessandro
Volta, up to the first electric company Thomas Edison founded, and the various applications we
know today. A dry-cell is a direct-current (DC) power source that can provide voltage to low-
powered devices. The modern-day dry-cell also uses the foundation Volta has experimented on,
which will be your laboratory experiment.

Materials:

 Two (2) pieces of LED
 One (1) small six (6) cube plastic ice
tray (ideal cube size is 2 in. × 2 in.)
 Five (5) pieces galvanized
construction nails
 One (1) yd. gauge-22 copper wire
 Wire cutter
 One (1) pack distilled vinegar

Procedures:

1. Tightly wrap a piece of copper wire at least five (5) times around a galvanized nail under
the head of the nail. If the wire is covered in insulation, remove the insulation first.
2. Make sure to leave a tail of wire extending straight out from the nail (at least three [3]
inches). Repeat step 1 four (4) more times.
3. Fill six (6) wells of the ice tray with vinegar.
4. Place one (1) nail inside one well, with its tail dipping on the other well. Make sure that
the copper wire is bent.
5. Place the next nail inside the well where the previous nail’s copper wire is placed. Make
sure that the nail – or copper wire – is not in contact with the copper wire of the previous
nail.
6. Place the last nail in the well, with its tail inside the last well. See image below for
reference.

7. Insert the LED in between the first and last well, as seen above. Observe what happens.
02 Laboratory *Property of
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 SH1727

Process Questions:

1. Did the LED light up? If not, explain why.

2. In your opinion, can the ice-tray battery power other DC-dependent devices?
3. What do you think contributes to the LED lighting up?
4. Galvanized nails are iron nails alloyed with zinc to keep it from rusting. How does zinc
make the LED to light up?
5. What other batteries use acids to create electricity?
6. Why is it important to dispose batteries safely?

02 Laboratory *Property of
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