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Course: Exploratorium > Unit 3
Lesson 2: Penny BatteryChallenge: Design a more powerful battery
So now you know how to light a red LED. What about a blue one? Hint: a blue LED requires more power. Created by Exploratorium.
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- If you add more sanded pennies, it won't become better unless you do the pattern correctly, that way you can have more cells which result in better/more voltage.(4 votes)
- can you add more and more until it can charge a ipod?(3 votes)
- yes, I think you can. I've seen a fruit battery charge an ipod, so i think penny batteries work too(2 votes)
- Why blue not red aren't the the same LED but not color(2 votes)
- What do you really mean by "Why blue not red aren't the same LED but not color" Do you mean Why blue have no same LED and color with red?(1 vote)
- Do you add much bigger pennies (25 cents) and add the salted boards and sanded pennies but this time add way more salt and vinegar?(2 votes)
- i love this and am gonna try it at home(1 vote)
- 6 cells to light up the blue LED light! #genius(1 vote)
- What does the penny have inside to make power?(1 vote)
- A 6 cell generates 3 volts. What would that be in metric?(1 vote)
- What is the most powerful battery you could possibly make?(1 vote)
- I think that, well i did it myself but you should use 6 sanded pennies and just one intac penny on top and in between 6 soaked map boards.(1 vote)
- Copper pennies or zinc pennies?
All pennies made after 1979 are only copper on the outside(1 vote)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] My penny battery
is powerful enough to light a red LED, but I have a blue LED here. And when I attach it, it doesn't light up. Can you design a penny
battery that's powerful enough to light a blue LED? Here's a hint. Blue light is a higher
frequency than red light and so requires more energy. In the next video, I'll
show you the solution I came up with.