Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Potato batteries. OK, how the /hell/ can that possibly work? I mean, 
> seriously. Lemon batteries work because lemons are filled with lemon 
> juice, one of the most acidic foodstuffs known to Man. But potatoes? 
> They hardly contain any liquid at all, and (if taste is anything to go 
> by) it's not even /slightly/ acidic. Any yet, apparently it can generate 
> an electrical potential. How?!

  Ever heard of google? Or wikipedia?

  "The energy for the battery does not come from the lemon or potato,
  but rather the chemical change in the zinc (or other metal). The
  zinc is oxidized inside the lemon, exchanging some of its electrons
  in order to reach a lower energy state, and the energy released
  provides the power. The lemon or potato merely provides an environment
  where this can happen, but they are not used up in the process.

  In current practice, zinc is produced by electrowinning of zinc
  sulfate or pyrometallurgic reduction of zinc with carbon. The energy
  produced originates from this source."

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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