Get Zinc, Carbon Electrodes and Manganese Dioxide From a Lantern Battery

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Introduction: Get Zinc, Carbon Electrodes and Manganese Dioxide From a Lantern Battery

About: NurdRage is a dedicate group of science nerds trying to further amateur science with direct how-to instructions in video format. We saw what was already online and we thought "we could do better"... …

We get Zinc, Carbon Electrodes and Manganese dioxide from a lantern battery.

We'll be using all of these components in upcoming videos.

Zinc is a good metal for battery experiments.

Carbon electrodes are good for electrolysis.

Manganese dioxide will be used for "elephant toothpaste" experiments and similar hydrogen peroxide experiments.

The upcoming videos will be placed here on instructables and at our channel at http://www.youtube.com/NurdRage

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    15 Comments

    0
    PopsicleGhoul
    PopsicleGhoul

    6 years ago

    Want to make thermite from battery manganese dioxide? It needs to be purified first, but I have a video describing that process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCmTzZa6ncY. Enjoy and stay safe!

    0
    q1q1we
    q1q1we

    11 years ago on Introduction

    actually you can check the IEC Name on the battery before you open it.

    can refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes for the IEC Name. (e.g. for AAA is R03 & Lantern 6 Volt Spring Top is 4R25)

    0
    fire_head
    fire_head

    11 years ago on Introduction

    is the Zinc elemental? If so any ideas on how to turn it into powder? I need Zn powder and this was my best bet

    0
    bchong
    bchong

    11 years ago on Introduction

    guys what if i opened a battery and one of my gloves broke.. i got in contact with it but i washed like as soon as i noticed...wich was like a 3 mins exposure.. -_- is there any danger on being poisoned?

    0
    winnerceramics
    Manganese oxides are skin soluble meaning they are absorbed threw the skin.These oxides are also fairly toxic.
    0
    westfw
    westfw

    Reply 12 years ago on Introduction

    Really? MnO2 is not at all water soluble. MSDS info is inconsistent, but at least one says skin contact isn't expected to be a problem: http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/m0715.htm

    0
    winnerceramics
    winnerceramics

    Reply 12 years ago on Introduction

    I work with Manganese Dioxide and other oxides daily Making ceramics. Manganese is one of the more toxic ones. And it seems to be hard to wash off of my skin when, I do get it on myself. And if you look at the top of the MSDS you posted in bold it talks about ingestion causing nervous system problems. So it is easy to ingest because it is hard to wash off of hands. I was told by several chemists to be careful with manganese dioxide because of how little is needed to cause nervous system damage. This is because it is a heavy metal and tends to build up in tissue.

    The water solubility of a compound does not denote skin solubility of a compound. Skin solubility and water solubility are two separate things. The compound can react with the chemicals that make up skin that are not present in pure water.

    Also a side note the manganese dioxide glazes I use in ceramics dissolve brushes made form hair.

    0
    westfw
    westfw

    12 years ago on Introduction

    I wouldn't count on the Manganese Dioxide being very pure. It is usually mixed with carbon to help decrease internal resistance of the cell. This won't hurt many experiments that ask for MnO2, but there are a couple where the carbon could have disasterous effects (I'm thinking Oxygen production from certain solid oxidizers; no longer a common method, but still found in some books.)

    0
    mistahmaxi
    mistahmaxi

    12 years ago on Introduction

    I heard that you could get the manganese dioxide from regular AA or AAA batteries. Is it true?

    0
    bombmaker2
    bombmaker2

    12 years ago on Introduction

    I just did this and is there anyway to remove the stickiness of the carbon rods? I scrubbed and scrubbed them but they are still very sticky.

    0
    The Ideanator
    The Ideanator

    13 years ago on Introduction

    If the battery is an alkaline, would the products/components appear the same?

    0
    skutadude
    skutadude

    13 years ago on Introduction

    will u get the same chemicals if the battery is dead if not what chemicals will you get

    0
    NurdRage
    NurdRage

    Reply 13 years ago on Introduction

    carbon rod will be the same. Zinc will be corroded. Manganese dioxide will be partially converted to manganese (III) oxide or Mn2O3. And the electrolyte will be mixed in with more zinc chloride and zinc ammonium chloride complexes.

    0
    rimar2000
    rimar2000

    13 years ago on Introduction

    I used zinc from wasted batteries to cover iron pieces using a car battery charger. I put the pieces of zinc in hydrochloric acid and then impregnated a plastic brush with the resulting zinc chloride, connected the metal part of the brush to the positive charger pole and the negative to the piece to be coated. After several passes was formed a layer of zinc on iron.

    The carbon electrodes where used for my https://www.instructables.com/id/MonoCarbon_arc_torch/ BTW, that device also functions as a mini-forge or blowtorch.