5 ms·

Ars [1] has a pretty decent article with a bit more depth. Still no mention of the cell's basic voltage which I thought was like the number one piece of informa

• unnouinceput 4y ago
  Probably 1.2 V, like any classic cell. I mean take one zinc and one copper disc, put some paper between them, spill citric acid onto said paper and voial!, you got yourself a battery cell.
  • jhoechtl 4y ago
    The classic cell has 1.5V.
    • unnouinceput 4y ago
      The classic is this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaic_pile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaic_pile
  • mannykannot 4y ago
    From what I can recall of high-school chemistry, it depends on which ions are being used, and generally different for each combination. The basic zinc-manganese dioxide cell has an EMF of about 1.5V, while lead-acid car battery cells give about 2V. https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-characteristics/battery-voltage https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-characteristics/... https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-basics/electrochemical-potential https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-basics/electroch... Update: I see it also depends on their concentration, so the voltage changes as the cell discharges, unless all the components are solids: https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-basics/nernst-equation https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/battery-basics/nernst-eq...
    • unnouinceput 4y ago
      When I say classic, I meant the classic from 1800's, you know when Volta, Faraday and other were experimenting with different wet/dry electrolytes between the zinc/copper discs. Citric acid as electrolyte holds 1.2V and is easy to buy from you local supermarket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaic_pile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaic_pile
      • mannykannot 4y ago
        So there you have a third datum confirming that the voltage is dependent on the materials used.
• Keblo 4y ago
  I mean, the actual paper being discussed probably has the information you want - even if the Ars article doesn't