Battery out of cans and water

[hankthecrank]

http://hackedgadgets.com/2007/02/28/water-powered-batteries-with-mit%E2%80%99s-walter-levin-lessons/

Video at link above


Water running through two small open cans into a larger metal collection container wired together to create 10,000 to 15,000 volts.

Alas no amps to amount to any thing.

I still think it is neat

[Shallah Kali]

1. how much energy comes from a person on an exercise bike?

just curious if a gym could run itself off all the people on exercise bikes ;)

[hankthecrank]

2. Here are some links

http://science.howstuffworks.com/question658.htm

This first one comes close to answer your question.

You could get more power back from person on the bike if you feed some of the current back into the seat of the bike. Not saying I would do that :)


http://www.scienceshareware.com/bike_gen.htm

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments_bicycle.html

http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm

http://www.scienceshareware.com/bgsp.htm

[hankthecrank]

3. Stupid wifi links double post nt

[emcguffie]

4. Am I missing something?

Isn't that kind of astonishing? No one seems impressed....

[hankthecrank]

5. You need both parts

Its astonishing that it works. To use electricity you need the push(volts) that it has. But to get it to do work you need current or flow(amps). It is a weak spark and it takes it while to build up. So there is not much amps to work with.

Walter Levin was using it to make more of way to get his students to think then suggesting that it will work as a power source.

[skids]

6. Oh great now I am just going to HAVE to build one.

...as if I don't have millions of better things to do.

Neat toy. The most puzzling aspect about it is it's symmetry, at least for those who have not studied bistable systems.