Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

is it possible to generate electricty using metal rods placed into the soil?

4 Answers

Relevance
  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Yes. Possible but not practical. If you inserted two rods made of dissimilar metal (eg copper and zinc) into very damp soil, or anything containing impure water, it would act as a battery (cell, actually) and produce a voltage of around 1.5 volts. The current would be low, due to the high resistance of the ground, and the metal would soon corrode, further limiting the current.

    As an experiment, you could run an lcd clock off two wires stuck in a potato or lemon.

  • 1 decade ago

    Sure...as long as the soil is damp enough to move electrons and the pH is such that an oxidation reaction can take place at the electrode and reduction reaction can take place at the anode. Potato batteries work, so a soil battery can too, if you have the right conditions in the soil (it won't work in dry dirt, and only in wet soil if the pH is right and the metals are appropriately selected). If the pH is not right (suppose you damp down the soil with a strong sodium hydroxide solution) you won't generate any EMF between the would be anode and cathode because you will not have an electron sink at the would be cathode.

  • 1 decade ago

    soil alone is a poor conductor of electricity,so will not be able to generate any power unless the soil has water in it .

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes under the right conditions..

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.