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Microsoft-funded art installation charges smartphone using apples and potatoes

Saqib Shah
July 25, 2014

A new art installation in London is using apples and potatoes to charge a Nokia Lumia 930 smartphone.

The contraption, which has been assembled using 800 apples and potatoes tied together using galvanised wire, is located outside the Westfield shopping mall in West London.

Artist Caleb Charland used the hand-built circuit to create an electrical current of an average of 20mA and around six volts – enough to charge a smartphone via an attached wireless mat.

The installation brings to mind classroom science experiments that would power various low-level objects, such as a clock, using a single potato.

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The brand of smartphone being used should give an indication as to who is behind this rather elaborate stunt.

Nokia and its Lumia range of smartphones are of course owned by Microsoft. The Lumia 930 is the latest flagship from the Finnish manufacturer that was bought by Microsoft earlier this year.

But how exactly does the installation work?

The energy emanating from the large contraption is actually generated by the metal connecting the apples and potatoes, rather than the fruits and vegetables themselves.

They, however, act as an electrolyte for the zinc electrodes being produced by the galvanised nails and coppers.

Atoms from the zinc electrode dissolve into the apples and potatoes as a positively charged ion (an atom where the number of electrons is not equal to the number of protons), leaving two negatively charged electrons stranded behind.

These electrons pass via the wire connecting the two electrodes in order to join with hydrogen ions from the apple or potato to form hydrogen gas. This flow of electrons is the electrical current.

“I have never worked with anything on this scale before, and it was a challenge. By creating this large organic charger to power a Lumia 930 device, this work speaks to a common curiosity we all have for how the world works, as well as a global concern for the future of Earth’s energy sources,” said artist Caleb Charland.

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About the Author

Saqib Shah

Tech/gaming journalist for What Mobile magazine and website. Interests include film, digital media and foreign affairs.

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