Vegetable Semiconductors

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Paul Burke writes

It's a version of applying ***US 120 V mains*** to electrodes inserted in a courgette. You get light (coloured) and smoke, with fizzing noises and small explosions.

DON'T try this with European mains.

Why? This is a popular party trick and school experiment (done by the teacher of course). It works very well with pickles (green light) and sausages (yellow light and very ugly smell). The sausage light should be done in free air anyway, as some types like to explode ;-)

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Georg Acher writes

European mains produces a large enough current to cause really energetic explosions, enough to cause injury, particularly to eyes. The electrolysed vegetable has negative resistance, so the current is usually large enough to cause the fuse or circuit breaker to operate. That may be OK with sissy Continental 6 A supplies, (;-) but in UK we have 13 A supplies, making a BIG bang more likely.

Hmm, when I was young, :) ,EU mains worked well,thankyou. You can use orange peels, potatos,etc. and it left a nice carbon trail as well. If you have enough brains, you dont even get electrocuted. ;) When I "found" a nice radio mains transformer with 500 volt on it, it worked even better........ Aint we having a nice occupation???

of

anyway,

The sausage we did (240VAC) just cooked nicely. No light, burning or explosion.

Dirk

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax writes

A 60 W filament lamp in series helps to keep things under control.

I suppose it also helps if the expt is stopped when the sausage is cooked.

Dirk

What type of electrodes do you use to cook the sausage if you want to eat it afterwards? I remember the HotDogger we had as a kid in the sixties, the hot dogs tasted like s*it, IIRC. The other kids never seemed to care, but I couldn't stomach them. The ends of the dog were the worst, so I suppose it was some sort of migration of electrode material into the dog that made it taste so bad. regards, tom

We did it with a couple of stainless steel forks stuck into the ends of the sausage and then connected with croc clips to a mains cable.

Dirk

In message , dated Thu,

Not copper or aluminium, for sure! Carbon? Iron (skewers)?

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax writes

Stainless steel contains chromium. Not good for you in more than minute quantities.

That should only be a problem with DC. Otherwise it's just hot stainless steel - and not much hotter than boiling fat.

Dirk

Here in AZ, you can have 50A circuits for clothes dryers and electric ovens and stove-tops... and 100A for air conditioning.

...Jim Thompson

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug

Yes, but that's at 120 V, not 230 V. It matters - a lot.

In message , dated Thu, 10 Aug 2006, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax writes

With the potential gradients, current densities and unstable active compounds produced by the electrolysis, I wouldn't advise you to count on that.

Yep.. the minimum circuit is a 15A circuit. 20A are common for any power hungry rooms (kitchen, etc.). 30-50A are normal for dryers, stoves, water heaters, etc. 100A certainly isn't common for AC here in Michigan, but it isn't unheard of.

For killing you... doubtful. It takes nowhere near 120V, much less 230V to kill you. They will both cook you if you aren't careful.

Only if your the hot dog.

When I was doing my apprenticeship. the Broadcast Engineer I worked with would detune the x-miter. he had a plate over a section of the x-mittion line. used it as a coffee cup warmer. worked great.

Rick / N4NKR