6 ms·
The Baghdad Battery
- okket 8y ago"The Discovery Channel program MythBusters built replicas of the jars to see if it was indeed possible for them to have been used for electroplating or electrostimulation. On MythBusters' 29th episode (March 23, 2005), ten hand-made terracotta jars were fitted to act as batteries. Lemon juice was chosen as the electrolyte to activate the electrochemical reaction between the copper and iron. Connected in series, the batteries produced 4 volts of electricity. When linked in series, the cells had sufficient power to electroplate a small token and deliver a minor electric shock to MythBusters co-host Adam Savage. Archaeologist Ken Feder commented on the show noting that no archaeological evidence has been found either for connections between the jars (which were necessary to produce the required voltage) or for their use for electroplating."
- userbinator 8y ago4V is not enough for any sort of "electric shock", much less be perceptible.
- ChrisClark 8y agoWhat is the cutoff between 4V and 9V then? Because a fully charged 9V battery on the tongue is most definitely perceptible! Why is it imperceptible when you drop down to 4 volts?
- colejohnson66 8y agoIt has to do with the resistance between the two terminals. Every person is different, so the cutoff will be different between every person
- close04 8y agoIt also depends on the sensitivity of the tissue. Take the tongue for example where 4V is enough to feel a bite.
- jerkstate 8y agowhen cells are linked in series, voltage is additive. 2 jars linked positive-to-negative would provide 8 volts, 10 jars about 40, which is definitely enough to get a shock or electroplate.
- userbinator 8y agoI think you misread it --- the sentence is saying 10 cells in series provided 4V, which means ~0.4V/cell and far closer to what the chemistry would predict for a copper-iron cell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_electrode_potential_(data_page) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_electrode_potential_(... edit: see near the bottom of page 4 of this: http://www.mrloader.com/uploads/3/2/2/1/32218311/electrochemistry_notes.pdf http://www.mrloader.com/uploads/3/2/2/1/32218311/electrochem... That says 0.43V for a copper-iron cell.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- thomasmarriott 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song
- fauria 8y agoMore generally, out-of-place artifacts: An out-of-place artifact (OOPArt) is an artifact of historical, archaeological, or paleontological interest found in an unusual context, that challenges conventional historical chronology by being "too advanced" for the level of civilization that existed at the time, or showing "human presence" before humans were known to exist. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-place_artifact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out-of-place_artifact
- new_guy 8y agoNot as out of place as popular media would have you believe. Ancient civilizations had analog computers, automatons, steam engines etc the Romans were responsible for destroying most of it, they were only interested in weapons tech, set us back at least two thousand years. Further reading: https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14162.html https://press.princeton.edu/titles/14162.html
- mc32 8y agoYour reference only says that their myths proposed some advanced ideas not that they executed or realized those ideas.
- red-indian 8y agoAlso of interest, Moche electroplating. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/new-perspectives-on-moche-metallurgy-techniques-of-gilding-copper-at-loma-negra-northern-peru/D42108E9C7410A877EAA9BD737A197A4 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/a... http://resources.conservation-us.org/osg-postprints/postprints/v03/scott/ http://resources.conservation-us.org/osg-postprints/postprin... https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moche https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moche
- m_sahaf 8y agoThis reminds me of a mean prank the cast of Mythbusters pulled on Adam Savage[0]. According to Adam, the team was forced into doing this by someone who wasn't with the show anymore (2015)[1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0SEBFGGEcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0SEBFGGEcI [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cfqzf/i_am_adam_savage_cohost_of_mythbusters_ama/csv9sh7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cfqzf/i_am_adam_sava...
- ncmncm 8y agoIt's all very well to prove they would not have been useful as cells in a battery for electroplating, but it gets us no closer to what they really were meant for. You don't need a copper jacket or iron rod to store a scroll in a sealed jar: you just need to seal the jar.
- peteretep 8y ago> You don't need a copper jacket or iron rod to store a scroll in a sealed jar This is not a strong argument, on the basis that there's apparently no limit to the desire of humans to be superstitious about shit they don't understand, and want to decorate stuff. You may not think you need a copper jacket and iron rod to store a scroll in a sealed jar, but Uncle Nasim the Ctesiphonian may have had some trenchant beliefs on both the aesthetics of document storage, and how to keep the Djin away.
- thatoneuser 8y ago...and maybe these actually were batteries used for a lot of things. Your argument amounts to "people might have done it for superstition", which isn't a strong argument either which was ops original gripe.
- GnarfGnarf 8y agoErik von Daniken had a field day with this in his "Chariots of the Gods" hoax back in the 70's.
- martinpw 8y agoUnfortunately it looks like the battery was looted from the Baghdad museum during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and remains missing (according to a small snippet at the bottom of this article).
- thekevan 8y agotldr: The physical construction makes it pretty much impossible to use as a battery, it might have been used for electroplating but it seems more likely that it held scrolls.