Make an electrical circuit and complete it my placing your hands on the metal plate electrodes. Investigate the what happens when you hold hands with someone else

A solar cell has two electrodes. These have to be connected up to make a circle which we call an electrical circuit.

One side is connected using wires and the other side is connected up with something called an electrolyte.

When you put your hands on the metal plate electrodes, you become the electrolyte. The current can flow through your sweat and your body fluids so a reading is seen on the meter.

Activities

  1. What happens if you swap hands?
  2. Try holding hands with someone else and put your free hand on one of the plates and get your partner to put their free hand on the other one. Do you still complete the circuit? Does the number on the meter get bigger or smaller?
  3. Try again with your hands a little wet and have a look at the number on the meter. Is it bigger or smaller than when you had dry hands?

For more details about the experiment, view the hand battery document.

Downloads

References

This resource was developed by The Solar Spark at the University of Edinburgh.

The Solar Spark - solar energy resources