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Potatoes could Light the World


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46 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

LEDs don't use much power, and when you consider the energy required to boil the potato, it's a pretty inefficient way to power a light.

 

I dunno....apparently it's the cooking, not the boiling per se and it's just a slice of potato....you can steam 4 potatoes in 10 minutes in a medium pot, so presumably you could either light the entire house for a month or just cook dinner and take out a slice. 

 

Sounds efficient enough to me!

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The potato battery kit, which includes two metal electrodes and alligator clips, is easy to assemble and, some parts, such as the zinc cathode, can be inexpensively replaced

 

This is probably part of limiting factor plus factor that outside lab controls will not be as precise, electrodes not cleaned, etc. which affect power output.  We did this kind experiment in high school in 70's.

 

The energy to boil the potato is not issue. The places this device is intended on going to can burn dung as fuel to cook a potato.

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On 1/29/2020 at 6:45 PM, WhoTom said:

LEDs don't use much power, and when you consider the energy required to boil the potato, it's a pretty inefficient way to power a light.

 

 

Gotta be better than those do nothing wind turbines.  Did the NY Thruway ever get their turbines running?

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2 hours ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

Gotta be better than those do nothing wind turbines.  Did the NY Thruway ever get their turbines running?

I used to always wonder driving by farms why I never saw the small wind turbines in the fields spinning in them, even when it was windy. Then just recently I found out they aren't wind turbines but fans that are used to circulate and move warm air around and prevent frost from damaging the crops.......

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