Iranian student replicates ancient battery

Iranian student replicates ancient battery

www.presstv.ir

The battery consists of a 14-centimeter-high egg-shaped clay jar with an asphalt stopper. An iron rod protruding out of the asphalt is the anode, which is surrounded by a copper cylinder used as the cathode. Filled with vinegar as an electrolytic solution, the jar produces an electric current.

A Sharif University of Technology student has reproduced the battery in the exact measurements to test the three hypotheses he had on the applications of the battery.

His first theory is that the battery had been used for electroplating gold onto silver objects.

"The part to be plated is the cathode of the circuit while the anode is made of gold," Amin Taheri Najafabadi explained. "Both components are immersed in cyanide-gold salt."

He notes that cyanide-gold salt is not easily found in nature but can be found in animal bile or saltwater.

Taheri has already disproved his second hypothesis that the battery may have been invented for electricity production, as its electric potential is around 0.5V.

He assumed that the battery may have had medical applications considering the bronze and iron needles discovered next to the Parthian Battery.

"The device and its conductive needles may have been used for pain control. The use of electricity in medicine was seen in ancient Rome where electric fish were used for pain reduction," Taheri said in support of his hypothesis.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 11-2-2009 by rattan1]

[edit on 11-2-2009 by rattan1]

I am still puzzled with this amazing discovery. What might this ancient battery be used for? The student who recreated it has put forward two theories in the article, how far do you agree with him? Where do you think they got the knowledge to build this 2200 years ago? I strongly believe that we know very little about ancient civilizations and they were probably more advanced than what we may think

www.presstv.ir
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 11-2-2009 by rattan1]

Persians,

One of the smartest races around.

Incredible!

reply to post by rattan1


"The device and its conductive needles may have been used for pain control. The use of electricity in medicine was seen in ancient Rome where electric fish were used for pain reduction," Taheri said in support of his hypothesis. "


My veternarian has a device that he applies to the animals to ease the pain. He said the current was as strong as a neuron firing. The employees there even use it on themselves for headaches. He cured one of my cats after he had drank an antifreeze cocktail. As far as I know its approved for human use..

I have a laser pointer that would run off of 3 of these jars. Point is, you could have temples filled with these battery's linked together to get a higher voltage.

Yep. Just because the single cell only produces 0.5V doesn't mean they didn't link them in series to increase the voltage.

That's what we do today with our batteries. AA batteries are 1.5V (1.4 to be precise) cells, and we often link them together in series to up the voltage. It's easier than making 3V 4.5V and 6V cells to be used in your electronics.


Whatever they used their batteries for, they likely thought along the same lines. Instead of custom making different cells for different voltages, just make a bunch of half volt cells and string them together in whatever configuration that suits the potential needs.

That way you can alter the voltage later if you need more or less.


Same goes for Amperage. Linking them in parallel allows for a greater current draw than the one cell can feasibly provide.


To add to this, smaller jar sized electric cells would mean it's easier to transport. Nobody wants to lug an out-house sized battery over to where it needs to be used... no matter what age your from.



All we've found is the one ancient cell.
I'm assuming they made more.
And I'm pretty sure the natural thing to do once you have two is to see what happens when you connect them together. (I know I ruined a few 9V cells thinking like that when I was a kid.)

Man, those Persians were really ahead of their time... or at least, ahead of the rest of us.



[edit on 11-2-2009 by johnsky]

I have no doubt that the ancient societies of our past were more advanced than we commonly give them credit for. For example, it's reputed that the Library of Alexandria once housed a document detailing the basic principals behind the steam engine - a device which wouldn't be rediscovered for over a millenia and a half.

However, this doesn't mean that ancient societies were highly technologically advanced - or even more advanced that we are now, some people like to claim. I wonder if the Egyptians who used these batteries even understood, or had a basic idea of, how they truly worked. This would explain why we have evidence of only very basic and limited use for the technology.

Without a comprehensive understanding of how the technology worked, and without complimentary enabling technologies, they would not be able to advance the usage of it much past a few specific applications.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
Persians,

One of the smartest races around.

Incredible!

Shushhh, I think that's racist these days.

Great story though, makes me wonder what kind of inventions were found and lost over the years... Not that I'm saying the egyptions had ipods or anything, but I'm sure lots of civilizations were more advanced that we give them credit for.

Originally posted by johnsky
Same goes for Amperage. Linking them in parallel allows for a greater current draw than the one cell can feasibly provide.

There's really no limit, is there? You could make heaps of them.

You could, say, wire 24 up in series to get 12 volts. Then you could make 4 more of these 12V systems, and wire all 5 up in parallel. Get the best of both worlds.

Hopefully they release free energy soon, and with no strings attatched!

reply to post by rattan1


My kids and I made one of these for a science project a few years ago. ( our friend who is a mechanic and knows about electrical current helped make sure we didn't blow anything up ) He was actually surprised it went as long as it did.
It was really cool and alot of fun to make. The thing that really made us wonder was if they ever made larger ones that could power say a home...we still haven't found any information. Other than a few pic's of some Egyptian type looking lights being used to illuminate the area around a couple of people. But I have a few friends checking some archeology archives. Hopefully we can find out if there was a different type of set up used for larger applications.

You can make batteries, things that store charge, out of almost anything.
It doesn't mean they will work any good.
How would they have charged the battery?
They don't charge themselves......
A battery stores charge, but someone has to put the charge in it.
This is more sounding like a power generating device than a battery.

I saw this on mythbusters awhile ago....I believe only one has ever been found

You know, I've read a lot of theories about that battery, but I've never seen anyone suggest the obvious: perhaps it was used for making magnets.

we believe arabic sailors were the first known people to use compasses for navigation, and it's believed that they made them by the scraping method. What if someone who was smart figured out that running even a small current at almost any voltage through enough turns of wire would produce a significant magnetic field. Then you could simply heat short iron sufficiently, and drop them in your coil of wire (with the current running through it) to create permanent, relatively powerful magnets.

Thoughts?

Originally posted by BorgHoffen
You can make batteries, things that store charge, out of almost anything.
It doesn't mean they will work any good.
How would they have charged the battery?
They don't charge themselves......
A battery stores charge, but someone has to put the charge in it.
This is more sounding like a power generating device than a battery.

Not quite. There's already electrical potential in the chemical reaction with this type of battery.

Once spent though, you have to empty the acid out, clean the battery, then re-fill it.


Remember back to your old science fairs in school. How many people powered a light with lemons? I remember that being a popular experiment back in school because it was easy... lol.

It's the same principle, only, instead of throwing away the lemon, you re-fill the battery with acid.


You don't have to do an initial charge.

Expect to be going through ALLOT of vinegar though.



To the anonymous poster, we're well aware they only found one.
But given the age of it, it's a wonder any survived.