Electrochemical Writing

Reach into your kit & pull out the bag that says Experiment 20. Take everything out of the bag and place it around your white mat.

Take one sheet of foil, fold it in half and place it in the center of your mat. Next, place one of the filters on top of the foil.

Unwrap the battery and connect it to the alligator clips with the red and black wires.

Open the bottle of Methyl Red and lightly soak the entire filter. Be sure not to flood it, if there’s a puddle use the paper towel to wipe some of it away.

Next, attach the nail to the red clamp. You can attach it on the nailhead or on the side, whichever is most comfortable for you to hold.

Attach the black wire to the corner of the foil. Simply open the mouth of the wire and clamp down on a corner like an alligator.

Now hold the nail in your hand, just like a pencil, and you can draw on the filter to create your artwork.

Next, let’s try swapping the wires. Connect the red wire to your foil, and the black wire to your nail. Try drawing something on your filter. Do you notice a difference?

Move your artwork to the side and grab another piece of foil and a new filter. This time soak the filter with the Thymol Blue. Don’t use the entire bottle just enough to soak the filter.

After waiting 30 seconds, if you still see puddles use your paper towel to dry them up. Then like before, attach your red wire to the nail and the black to the foil and create a new drawing.

Just like last time, let’s swap the polarity. Attach your nail to the black wire and clamp the red wire to your foil. Now try drawing to see what happens.

Finally, grab your last piece of foil, a filter, and the bottle of Universal Indicator. Soak the filter, dabbing up any puddles. Then, connect your red wire to the nail, the black to the foil, and create your final artwork.