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Kids Create Battery From Brussels Sprouts to Light Christmas Tree

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Brussels Sprouts Battery. Image by The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair
Brussels Sprouts Battery. Image by The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair

In their search for the best way to remove the most hated vegetable on the Christmas table, engineers from the Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, together with seven children from City of London Academy, Islington, developed the first ever battery from 1,000 tiny green Brussels sprouts.

The generated energy was used to power 100 high efficiency LEDs placed on a Christmas Tree.

Apparently, if you happen to hate Brussels sprouts ever since you were a kid, you will definitely not be the only one. On the contrary, research has shown that every two out of three kids in the UK do not want to get anywhere near the little green vegetable, especially on Christmas, when the healthy goodness is part of the traditional meal. But in order to find a better use of the wasted resource, and to make the vegetable a bit more interesting if not more desired, a team of engineers came up with a true innovation, which was presented at the largest science, technology, engineering and maths fair for youth in the UK, The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair.

A battery consists of 1,000 Brussels sprouts, placed on five power cells, each capable of producing 63 volts. Although these fall into the category of extra low voltage, they generated sufficient energy to power 100 LEDs on a Christmas tree and turn quite a number of heads. The copper and zinc electrodes inside the sprouts create a chemical reaction, which generates a current, stored in a capacitor. The generated energy is also monitored and displayed so that the makers are able to show how much energy is produced.

This invention definitely made Brussels sprouts look at least a little bit cooler. And we have to admit, any kid would be much more likely to get away with getting rid of the vegetable from the plate in such a way, than if they try to feed it to the house pet.

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