Things You'll Need:
- Plastic cup
- Water
- Salt
- Vinegar
- Clorox bleach (or other household chlorine bleach)
- Pencil
- Two 12- to 18-inch pieces of 20-gauge insulated wire
- Wire strippers
- Aluminum foil
- Uncoated iron nail
- Multimeter
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Step 1
Fill a plastic or other nonmetallic cup about 2/3 to 3/4 full with tap water. Add the following: 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of vinegar and about 1 teaspoon of household bleach (Clorox Bleach works well).
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Step 2
Place a pencil or small dowel rod on the rim of the glass so that it makes a "bridge" that extends over the top of the cup.
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Step 3
Take two 12- to 18-inch pieces of insulated wire (20-gauge works well) and use wire strippers to remove about 1 inch of insulation from both ends of the wires.
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Step 4
Take one wire and wrap the bare end around the head end of a nail. Wrap the wire around the pencil so that the nail is suspended in the bleach solution.
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Step 5
Wrap the second wire onto a strip of aluminum foil. Then wrap the wire around the pencil so that the foil strip is suspended in the bleach solution.
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Step 6
Your battery is complete. To measure the voltage output, connect the wire ends to a multimeter. The output will be low, but in some cases, you may be able to power a small device with this battery or a series of interconnected batteries.
