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Myth: Near Baghdad, archeologists found a jar with acidic residue inside, an iron rod inside a copper tube, and a pitch plug. Is it evidence of an ancient battery? Could it have worked? What could it be used for?

Summary: Kari sets up a demonstration with a lemon and some metal bars. In her demonstration, she hooked a voltmeter up to a bar of zinc and one of copper; it registers almost a full volt. She replaces the zinc with iron?barely a third of a volt. Similar results occur in vinegar and wine, but the build team decides on lemon juice. They create ten of them, and test one?it registers a third of a volt. When all ten are hooked up in series, they register 4.3 volts. Not amazing, but enough to be felt.

It?s PLAUSIBLE to make a battery from ancient materials, but what in the world could they be used for? That is the build team?s next task, and they research three possibilities. 1) Electroplating; 2) pain relief through electro-stimulation; 3) and experiencing God. Kari and Scottie chase the first two possibilities, while Tory prepares for the third by building a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. First, Kari sets up a simple electroplating rig by hooking up one of the jars to a zinc electrode and a copper electrode suspended in a saline solution. Overnight, the copper becomes plated with the zinc, proving the electroplating theory PLAUSIBLE. Next, the girls go to an acupuncture clinic to test the second conjecture. The doctor there actually puts his body on the line first to test the effects of the 4.3V battery through the needles. No ill effects, to either him or Scottie, although it does heat one of the needles in Scottie?s arm up, causing her to remark that it could also have been used as a torture device. Nevertheless, this conjecture is also PLAUSIBLE.

Peter N. hat geschrieben:vielleicht hat es leicht gekitzelt wenn mann dazwischen gegriffen hat (-;
oder es wurde sonst für einen Hokuspokus verwendet?

P.