HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We made our pumpkins extra spooky this year with homemade-battery powered eyesOur s

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We made our pumpkins extra spooky this year with homemade-battery powered eyes

Our simple coin battery is based off the first electrical battery invented by Alessandro Volta around 1799 - the Voltaic pile

The Voltaic pile was the first source of continuous electrical current i.e. the first battery.

It was made of copper and zinc discs separated by brine-soaked cloth / card - this combo makes a single cell, and a pile of cells makes a battery.

We replaced the brine with lime slices!

Humphry Davy used the Voltaic pile in his early electrolysis experiments here at the Ri, and continued using advanced designs like the Cruickshank trough battery (a bit like a horizontal Voltaic pile)

Through electrolysis Davy isolated 7 new elements ⚡️

We think Mary Shelley based the character of Frankenstein’s professor on Humphry Davy, after being inspired by his lectures where he talks about ‘penetrating’ nature to isolate elements (the machismo of it is a whole other thing) ‍♂️