[Lab] Homemade Capacitor

[Emily Daniels]

Good idea! I'll try that- thanks Andrew!

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 1:22 PM, Andrew Plumb <andrew at plumb.org> wrote:

> Ah, mixing the two salt solutions could be part of the problem.  Perhaps
> try building up your structure in discrete layers, i.e alternate between
> layers of Rochelle and Epsom, or make your primary Rochelle crystals then
> coat them in Epsom+Rochelle mixture.
>
> On 2011-10-28, at 12:09 PM, Emily Daniels wrote:
>
> > @Andrew- way ahead of that. Already grew and tested piezo crystals at
> home from cream of tarter and washing soda. The problem with Rochelle salt
> is it is fragile and can crack and fragment easily under pressure. In my
> salt mixture I combined Rochelle salt with Epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate)
> and heated it to liquid then poured it into the candy molds. In seawater
> Magnesium acts as a sound absorber- meaning it can carry vibrations over a
> distance. The piezo crystals suspended in the Magnesium seems to allow a
> reverberation to happen, despite it's nearly solid state. Both salts are
> highly hydroscopic and suck in moisture from the air, allowing some movement
> of ions in the mixture. I channel the electricity generated through a copper
> and an aluminum wire spiralled for maximum surface area and inserted an inch
> apart in the solidified solution. The copper wire acts as the anode and the
> aluminum is the cathode.
> >
> > @Darcy I saw your homemade hand crank- really neat! In this experiment I
> was trying to challenge myself by creating an energy source from common
> household items so that a person with limited access to electronic
> components could make it without relying on refurbished piezo buzzers and
> the like. Seems I have a way to go..
> >
> > Emily
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 11:36 AM, Andrew Plumb <andrew at plumb.org> wrote:
> > Colin's "Homebrew Piezo" blog post may be a good place to start:
> >
> > http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/03/collins-lab-homebrew-piezo.html
> >
> > Andrew.
> >
> > On 2011-10-28, at 11:29 AM, Emily Daniels wrote:
> >
> > > Hi Folks,
> > >
> > > I've been working on a design that I thought would be a different type
> of battery but it seems to discharge too quickly for that, but so far it can
> take a charge of 6V DC in 30 sec from a 9V battery and discharge about 3V
> when a load is applied (in my test case a 3V LED) in about a minute. It has
> a resting charge of .6V DC and 1V AC per cell. I have 4 of them wired
> together for the above load tests. It's a type of dry electrolytic cell made
> of a non-toxic salt mixture in a hard sugar candy shell with piezoelectric
> Rochelle salts (yes you could eat it but I don't think you'd want to) and
> I'm wondering if anyone has any experience generating electricity from heat
> or vibrations of Rochelle salts or quartz that they could help me with. I
> already tested the cells on top of a subwoofer and by heating them with a
> hairdryer, which both times there was a .1V fluctuation, but not a build up
> of charge, and I cracked a cell. Thanks!
> > >
> > > Emily
> > >
> > > --
> > > Emily Daniels | emilydaniels.com | @emdaniels | awesomefoundation.org
> > >
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> > --
> >
> > "The future is already here.  It's just not very evenly distributed" --
> William Gibson
> >
> > Me: http://clothbot.com/wiki/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Emily Daniels | emilydaniels.com | @emdaniels | awesomefoundation.org
> >
>
> --
>
> "The future is already here.  It's just not very evenly distributed" --
> William Gibson
>
> Me: http://clothbot.com/wiki/
>
>
>


-- 
Emily Daniels | emilydaniels.com | @emdaniels | awesomefoundation.org
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