GCH 360 Environmental HealthProfessor Snyder Water ProjectFebruary 26th, 2014

Aditi Joshi, Kelly Humphreys, Miran Jun, Camtran Huynh, Nicole Kraatz.

EnviroBattery

Six Experiments

Freaky Fork: Make a Fork Battery

Crazy Coin: Make a Coin Battery That Sings

Paper Clip Party: Make a Paper Clip Battery

Water Wonder: Make a Battery with Water

Musical Mud: Make a Sound Chip Sing

Potato Power: Make a Potato Powered Clock

Scope of the Project• Each different experiment calls for using an

aqueous medium.

• All of the aqueous products for the experiments can typically be easily accessible.

• The aqueous products in these experiments are the potato, mud, water, and piece of fruit such as an orange.

• For each experiment, a pair of zinc and copper plates are immersed into the products.

• Miran will explain a few of the experiments and how they work.

How does EnviroBattery

work?

• The purpose of EnviroBattery is to create a safe chemical reaction through reusable products in order to avoid the harmful effects of typical batteries.

• This works by connecting zinc and copper plates to an aqueous substance such as a potato, water, mud, lemons, oranges, etc.

• Zinc, a more reactive metal, is the negative electrode, while copper, a less reactive metal, is the positive electrode.

• Hence, zinc produces more electrons faster so the rest of the excess electrons travel from zinc to copper.

• Using the help of electrodes, zinc and copper plates, the chemical reaction whereby the flow of electrons from a more reactive to less reactive metal creates a current strong enough to power a small light bulb, watch, or sound chip.

Potato PowerMake a potato powered clock.

Musical Mud

Make a sound chip sing.

Water WonderMake a battery with water.

Paper Clip Party

Make a paper clip battery.

Crazy CoinMake a coin battery that sings.

Freaky Fork

Make a fork battery.

Application to “Real World”

• The application of the EnviroBattery to a real world setting is comparable to the first electrical battery, originating in the 1800s.

• The EnviroBattery serves to provide hands on explanations to the chemical events that take place within batteries, producing the energy required to do various tasks like emit sound, fuel lights, etc.

• This is seen in many modern technologies with modern batteries.

• We use batteries to play our music players, to use our flashlights, and so on.

Teaching ‘Real World’ Concept• Help kids understand the importance of water by having them test out the

experiment themselves to witness how natural materials like potatoes, mud, lemons and water can make electricity.

• Water typically conducts electricity due to the small amount of ionic impurities that are in it. The result is a net movement of electric charges moving between them, which is called an electric current.

• Not only water is useful in keeping us hydrated, but can also be used to conduct electricity.

• Seeing how valuable this resource can be will in turn allow kids to preserve this scarce and valuable element. By knowing the value of water, one can be better at determining how best to use the scarce water available.

Hydropower• Hydropower – transforms the

gravitational energy of falling water into electrical energy.

• Some dams are built to produce hydroelectric power

• Hydroelectric dams are useful because it controls the flow of water, so that electricity can be produced when is needed.

• Hydroelectric dams do not produce pollution or consume fossil fuels like coal or oil plants.

Health Angle• Disposing batteries improperly can create risks

that are harmful to both our health as well as the environment.

• Lead, mercury, sulfuric acid, nickel, and cadmium are some of the toxic elements in batteries that when accumulated in the environment (soil, water) can become airborne and directly effect our health and well being.

• Some of the dangerously harmful effects of batteries to our health are: kidney failure, damages to the reproductive system, high blood pressure, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, memory loss, impaired hearing, behavioral problems.

Researches believe that Ludwig van Beethoven became ill and died from lead poisoning.

Conclusion• It is utmost important that we collectively make an effort to reduce the spread of toxic

products in the environment and ultimately our body.

• Educating children though fun experiments such as the EnviroBattery and explaining the “real world” application is a fun and accomplishing method.

• Let’s start recycling and using green energy as much as we can!