Fruit and veg batteries

May 17, 2016 1:15 PM

Potato batteries and various forms of citrus batteries are, as best as I can tell, most accurately described as chemical batteries. But that sounds so boring! Do they not have a more sciency name? Like electroconvalent batteries or something?

I really want to be able to describe them in a more exciting way than chemical or zinc-copper batteries. That doesn't quite catch the imagination. Polysyllabic for the win!

posted by Iteki to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

Bimetallobotanic cells?
posted by pipeski at 1:18 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

BioBatts!
posted by fixedgear at 1:44 PM on May 17, 2016

Response by poster: Am open to creative neologisms but also looking for actual/cromulent/existing words. As I are a ignorant it's probably good to let me know which is which!
posted by Iteki at 1:59 PM on May 17, 2016

Best answer: well, they are galvanic cells. tbh it's more about the two metals used than the fruit / potato.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:17 PM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah, the fruit itself doesn't actually provide the power; the power is really coming from ionization-state changes in the two different metals sticking into the fruit. All the fruit does is provide an electrolyte, a medium in which the metals are capable of ionizing, so any name which emphasized the "drawing power from veggies!" aspect would be misleading.
posted by jackbishop at 8:26 PM on May 17, 2016

Response by poster: Long enough now I guess that it's not thread sitting. The fruit isn't the important part, it's the mechanism. I just want it to sound flashy and sciency. Galvanic is leading at the moment, but I might just go with "electrochemical" for the syllable count. Is there anything that can be added to galvanic for extra SCIENCE!!
posted by Iteki at 2:05 PM on May 18, 2016