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Constructing Your Electrochemical Cell
Electrochemical cells consist of two dissimilar metals and an electrolyte. The cell you are constructing is much like the one made over 200 years ago by Volta.
History of composition of U.S. Penny
Instructions For Constructing Your Cell
The required materials are:
A Zinc plated flat washer, 3/4 inch in diameter with a 1/4 inch hole. Available at hardware stores. It can be found at Home Depot in their bulk hardware bins and is labeled AAA for 11 cents each.
B An old penny, pre-1982. It turns out that one cent pieces minted prior to 1982 were made of 95% copper and after that they contained mostly zinc and have only 5% copper which does not work well enough for our activity. We have been checking the change we receive and find that there is still quite a lot of pre-1982 pennies in circulation.
C Paper towel or coffee filter. Draw around the penny and carefully cut out a disc D. You could cut out more so that you have a spare.
E Mix a tablespoon of table salt in 1/2 cup of water. The salt water will become the electrolyte. Put it in a container with a top that will seal so that it can be transported to the Geocache site.
In addition to taking the washer, penny, paper disc and salt solution to the Geocache site, bring along a sheet of paper towel.
- Place the washer on the metal stage on the demonstrator.
- Put some salt water on the paper disc and then blot it with the paper towel so that it is not dripping.
- Put the disc on top of the washer.
- Put the penny on top of the disc. This forms your electrochemical cell. The zinc is the negative terminal and the copper is the positive terminal.
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