Taste the Power! – Experiment 1

After getting the second edition of “Make: Electronics”, I decided to try all of the experiments presented in the book. The first challenge in the book is to lick a 9 V battery. Why is it a challenge you ask? Try it!

I’ve read some other people’s accounts of this experiment in which they say they barely felt anything, but oh did I feel it!

After drying my tongue and repeating the process, it was less uncomfortable, but still perfectly detectable.

Measuring Your Tongue

My multimeter’s readings were both higher than what the book suggested they would be.

I did get the experiment’s conclusion that the lower resistance of my moist tongue allowed more current to flow through it and that’s why the sensation was weaker when my tongue was dry.

Further Investigation

I gathered some more information about the resistance of the skin on my arm as shown in the next table.

When measuring the resistance of the skin on your arm, mark your arm as shown in the picture above so you know where to place the probes on your skin to get the right readings from your multimeter.

Finally, I measured the resistance of tap water as shown in the next photo.

The added salt dramatically diminished the resistance!

Background: The Man Who Discovered Resistance

There’s a great series from the ARD (Association of Public Service Broadcasters of the Federal Republic of Germany) called “Meilensteine der Naturwissenschaft und Technik”.

The episode about Georg Simon Ohm perfectly complements this section of the book.

This episode can be found on YouTube in English, German, and Spanish.

If you would like to recreate this experiment yourself, you can get everything you need for this experiment from DigiKey!

• Batteries 9 V
• Multimeter - FLIR’s EXTECH EX330 Multimeter (the one I used)
• Other Multimeters
• PCB ruler