Here is a fun food hack I did over the weekend that is a useful alternative to lighting jack o' lanterns with candles or traditional batteries on Halloween. It could also double as a center piece for the fall and is easily made with common household items.
You'll need miniature pumpkins (I used Baby Boo), unflavored gelatin, salt, vinegar and oil from the grocery store. You'll also need 18 gauge copper and aluminum wire, an LED (preferably one that runs on 1.5 volts- I used one that I had candied in an earlier project), wire cutters, pliers, a ruler and multimeter. In the kitchen you'll need a medium sized bowl, small bowl, small pot, cookie sheet, pairing knife and mellon baller (or spoon). If you already have the tools and kitchen stuff the project should cost about $20.
Update: One week later and the pumpkin battery is still generating 1.5 volts! My follow up post on it is here.
You'll need miniature pumpkins (I used Baby Boo), unflavored gelatin, salt, vinegar and oil from the grocery store. You'll also need 18 gauge copper and aluminum wire, an LED (preferably one that runs on 1.5 volts- I used one that I had candied in an earlier project), wire cutters, pliers, a ruler and multimeter. In the kitchen you'll need a medium sized bowl, small bowl, small pot, cookie sheet, pairing knife and mellon baller (or spoon). If you already have the tools and kitchen stuff the project should cost about $20.
Update: One week later and the pumpkin battery is still generating 1.5 volts! My follow up post on it is here.
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Signing UpStep 1: Cut and Gore the Pumpkins
Start by cutting the top off a pumpkin in a circle and scooping out the seeds and innards. You will only need seven pumpkins, six to make the battery and one to house the light so choose the battery pumpkins to be slightly flatter and the center pumpkin to be slightly larger so you can cut a decent face into it. Keep the guts and seeds for later!
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The light, I sanded the aluminum that I used because it was blue. I thought the color would be a nice contrast to teach the kids about what I was doing. However, after roughing up the surface the light still did not illuminate. I got the LED off of some Christmas lights... not sure what the voltage/amps of it is, but it worked with my cell phone battery. I will keep you posted. Please provide some pointers if you have any! Thanks - Frank
A diode only allows current flow in one direction- check to make sure you have the wires on the correct lead. IIRC, the longer of the two is the positive.
Also, thin gauge wire like that is usually covered with a kind of varnish for insulation- you'll have to burn it off for that wire you twisted together to actually be one stranded wire. What you probably have now is just one really long wire that's wrapped around itself a bunch. Good luck! If it weren't already 6 in the evening, I'd try this one. Definitely keeping it in mind for next year, and I'm going to incorporate a huge Frankenstein switch and glam it up to look all mad scientist-y.