Place a zinc rod into it, and the acid will instantly start to devour away at the zinc. You will see gas bubbles of hydrogen forming on the zinc rod, and the rod and acid will start to heat up. This is what is occurring: .
Three ions start to form after the acid molecules start to break up: two H+ ions and one SO4-- ion.
The zinc atoms lose two electrons: (2e-) to become Zn++ ions. .
The Zn++ ions combine with the SO4-- ion to create ZnSO4. This making them disappear in the acid. .
The hydrogen ions connect with the electrons from the zinc atoms in the acid to make H2 molecules (hydrogen gas). You will see the hydrogen gas as bubbles on the zinc rod. .
Now stick a carbon rod in the acid, the acid does not react to it. But if you make a wire connect to both the rods, two things happen: .
The electrons flow through the wire and connect with the hydrogen on the carbon rod, so hydrogen gas starts to bubble off the rod of carbon. .
Less heat in now created. You can now make a light bulb turn on using the electrons flowing through the wire that you connected. Heat energy is now made into electron motion.
The electrons now go through the trouble to go to the carbon rod because they find it much easier to connect with hydrogen. Eventually, the zinc rod disappears completely or the hydrogen ions in the acid get used up and the battery begins to die.
Hypothesis: I predict, if I test all four different brands of batteries, then the Duracell Coppertop will last the longest and be the best for your money. The Duracell Coppertop will dominate the contest by far, because of the credit given to them by many people. I think the Coppertop will win in both time and Money purposes.
Experimental Design: First I bought four different types of batteries. I bought these batteries at Best Buy. You can usually by them at any local market store or gas station. Duracell ultra, Duracell Coppertop, Energizer Max, and Panasonic Max were the batteries I bought.
