The Glowing Pickle
Bill Blackwell
I can barely remember an experiment we did back in middle school where
120 Volts AC was applied to the ends of a pickle or cucumber or something.
Anyway, the pickle glowed. Is anybody out there familiar with this
demonstration? Also, why does the pickle glow? Thanks.
--
Bill Blackwell
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
404-206-1826
Internet: gt5...@prism.gatech.edu
John Lundgren
Bill Blackwell (gt5...@prism.gatech.edu) wrote:
: Hello,
Wierd science. I've remember putting a hot dog across the line voltage,
and it took about a minute to get a nice juicy hot dog, waiting for the
mustard and relish. Almost as fast as the microwave, and a whole lot
more portable. If you leave it on for too long, the contacts at the ends
will start to arc, and they will kinda glow. Nothing like what you're
talking about, tho. Maybe a pickle light? electroluminescence.
baden de bari
Actually, an acquaintance of mine did a similar project last
year. The pickle did not 'glow', but exhibited the effects of a 'plasma
globe' (ok, glow, kind of). Sparks inside the pickle as well as the
sound and of course the smell, made it interresting... that's all I
know...
t(------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Your son at five is your master, at ten || Baden de Bari
your slave, at fifteen your double and || ba...@draco.bison.mb.ca
after that, your friend or your foe, || ba...@sys6626.bison.mb.ca
depending on his bringing up. ||
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Richard Steven Walz
A Mr. Wizard (Don Herbert) of a few years back did this with stainless
forks and a suicide cord. The reaction was discovered by a German scientist
using brine and vinegar, and the yellow lines in the spectrum are actually
emission lines from sodium! One must keep moving the forks in the pickle,
however. I don't know how to do it in brine/vinegar. Buzzes and smokes at
120Hz to beat the band though!;)
-Steve Walz rst...@armory.com Don't try this at home kiddies!
Enrique Chavez
:>Hello,
It's also interesting to light up a grape! I used the small hobby
railroad nails to plug it up and presto... a glowing, smoking, grape.
The pickle stunk up the room pretty bad though. The hot dog was toasty
warm after we juiced it :)
----
Enrique ech...@as.arizona.edu
Silas E. Cheeseman
marxhausen paul
>Wierd science. I've remember putting a hot dog across the line voltage,
>and it took about a minute to get a nice juicy hot dog, waiting for the
>mustard and relish. Almost as fast as the microwave, and a whole lot
>more portable. If you leave it on for too long, the contacts at the ends
>will start to arc, and they will kinda glow. Nothing like what you're
>talking about, tho. Maybe a pickle light? electroluminescence.
We built these in high school shop class and if you use big aluminum
nails it will nuke a frozen hot dog in seconds. One I "built" a very
crude version of the dog nuker for my wife to show to her elementary
school class: it was just a bare plank of wood with two nails banged
through it and bent over, with an AC line cord wrapped around the heads.
The kids were amazed and extremely impressed.
Years later she asked me to make another one to demonstrate to her first
graders. This time I got safety conscious and not only put it into a
plastic project box: I put a clear plastic lid on it with an interlock
switch to keep the power off unless the lid was down.
This was a complete dud with the kids. It just looked like a very bad
kitchen appliance. The wonder of the earlier version was it's crude
simplicity and the spectacle of raw power sizzling the dog. If there
is a next time I'll make the bare-board version - but keep everybody
back from it and pull off the line cord after the demo so nobody finds
it and says, "hey, lets plug this in."
--
paul marxhausen .... ....... ............. ............ ............ ..........
.. . . . . . university of nebraska - lincoln . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . grace . . . .
. . . . . . . . happens .
Dr.Distortion
GT> I can barely remember an experiment we did back in middle school where
GT>120 Volts AC was applied to the ends of a pickle or cucumber or something.
GT>Anyway, the pickle glowed. Is anybody out there familiar with this
GT>demonstration? Also, why does the pickle glow? Thanks.
I have no idea, but your post made me hungry.
Now, where'd I put that jar of garlic dills?
Dave Stork * Offensive Audio * New York * dst...@cris.com
---
ş OLX 2.1 TD ş No tagline... I hate taglines.
Craig Wachob
>Hello,
> I can barely remember an experiment we did back in middle school where
>120 Volts AC was applied to the ends of a pickle or cucumber or something.
>Anyway, the pickle glowed. Is anybody out there familiar with this
>demonstration? Also, why does the pickle glow? Thanks.
>--
Look for Penn & Teller's book Playing with Food. They describe this pickle
effect and have a color photo. As I remember, some one tried to do this
on the Tonight Show, but weren't allowed as NBC (or someone) feared people
would do it wrong and electricute themselves. P&T also claimed someone did
his PhD on a glowing pickle.
Craig Wachob
wac...@calspan.com
co...@thing1.cc.utexas.edu
-
-Bill Blackwell (gt5...@prism.gatech.edu) wrote:
-: Hello,
-: I can barely remember an experiment we did back in middle school where
-: 120 Volts AC was applied to the ends of a pickle or cucumber or something.
-: Anyway, the pickle glowed. Is anybody out there familiar with this
-: demonstration? Also, why does the pickle glow? Thanks.
-
-Wierd science. I've remember putting a hot dog across the line voltage,
-and it took about a minute to get a nice juicy hot dog, waiting for the
-mustard and relish. Almost as fast as the microwave, and a whole lot
-more portable. If you leave it on for too long, the contacts at the ends
-will start to arc, and they will kinda glow.
Forget the 110V hot dog cooker. It is way too slow and not much of a
show. City Public Service in San Antonio has a safety show they do
for kids with a power transformer on a trailer. They plug the 220
side into a suitably hot outlet and use the high voltage (8KV in this
case) for the demonstration. They draw an arc and similar stuff.
I have not actually seen the show and so report this second hand. The
big hit with my son was cooking a sausage. According to him, "they
did not cook it very long at all and it was way overdone. You would
not want to eat it." He found it extremely funny and considered it to
be quite a show.
Oddly enough, this demonstration left him with the definite belief
that climbing a power pole is a bad idea.
Dan Hariton x5596
|> I tried the pickle trick. It didn't glow, but it hurt like hell.
Safety Considerations:
do not forget to take your hands off the ac-powered pickle...
also not advisable to swallow the pickle while the ac power is on...
do not try this experiment while in your tub...
it is safe to connect in series the hot dog and the pickle...
Good News:
Ohm's law applies for the above series connection...
Tim Deagan
I have a small (6 pickle) chandelier! It works great!!!! This is documented
in "How to play with your food" by Penn and Teller.
The basic effect is (IMHO) a combination of the electrolytic brine and the
spark gap between the pickle and the electrode. (it takes about 10-15 seconds
for the pickle to light, DO NOT TOUCH IT!!! I believe this is the time it
takes to burn a spark gap)
The simplest pickle light can be made by putting two nails through a board,
attaching AC 120V to the nails and spearing a pickle on them. THIS IS VERY
DANGEROUS AND CAN KILL YOU (the AC, that is)!!!! I have had to wrestle a
pickle sconce away from rowdy drunks and I can tell you that it is a deadly
mess!
The pickle light can be enhanced by spearing the pickle on a third nail to hold
the weight and allowing both electrodes to burn spark gaps. Also plug the
electrodes in through a outlet strip with a switch and a circuit breaker.
This is a real cool effect, IF YOU DON'T KILL ANYONE.
DON'T BE AN IDIOT!! If you don't know enough to keep from electrocuting
yourself then DON'T DO THIS. I will go ahead and tell you to JUST TAKE MY
WORD ON THIS, DON'T DO IT (geez, I feel like I'm posting in
rec.pyrotechnics :-)
Again, this is really neat, BUT NOT WORTH DYING FOR.
Joel Kolstad
>
>Ohm's law applies for the above series connection...
[Series connection of a hot dog and a pickle]
So did you measure the voltage across one or the other to find the ratio of
their resistances? :-)
Paul Hitchcock
: Good News:
: Ohm's law applies for the above series connection...
Considering the flow of ions, thermal transients, and the production of
non-conducting regions due to charring, I'd think the response of the
pickle would be highly non-linear. Might taste OK, though, with the
right beer. ;-)
-- Paul
pau...@netcom.com
James C. Bach
In article <2p0mn5$3...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu>, co...@thing1.cc.utexas.edu () writes:
> I have not actually seen the show and so report this second hand. The
> big hit with my son was cooking a sausage. According to him, "they
> did not cook it very long at all and it was way overdone. You would
> not want to eat it." He found it extremely funny and considered it to
> be quite a show.
>
> Oddly enough, this demonstration left him with the definite belief
> that climbing a power pole is a bad idea.
>
>
If only we could do a show like this (i.e. LIVE on ALL NETWORKS) using criminals
like Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dahlmer, perhaps our children would pick-up on the
idea that crime and violence is also a BAD idea. I'd gladly plunk-down $2.95
to Pay-Per-View to see one of those buggers turn to toast . . .
--
James C. Bach Ph: (317)-451-0455 The views & opinions expressed
Advanced Project Engr. GM-NET: 8-322-0455 herein are mine alone, and are
Circuits Bldg Blocks Grp Amateur Radio: WY9F NOT endorsed, sponsored, nor
Delco Electronics Corp. Just say NO to UNIX! encouraged by DE or GM.
Ian
>
>The simplest pickle light can be made by putting two nails through a board,
>attaching AC 120V to the nails and spearing a pickle on them. THIS IS VERY
>DANGEROUS AND CAN KILL YOU (the AC, that is)!!!! I have had to wrestle a
>pickle sconce away from rowdy drunks and I can tell you that it is a deadly
>mess!
>
Hmm, anyone tried with 240V AC ? I wanna know if I'm gonna launch a hot
dog/pickle into space and waste good food first ;)
Btw, how long before the EEC passes a regulation on pickles'
post-luminescence health factor ;)
Cheerio
Ian
Micromine
Can this be used as a voltage divider in DC circuits ???? What's the
resistance of a hot dog, and by repositioning the nail in the sausage can
you get a cheap (and tasty) variable resistor ???
How long do pickles take to "burn out" do they last longer than high
efficiency light bulbs ???? :)
Later peoples,
Simon.
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Micromine
If you peel the hot dog do you lose the "skin effect" ????
<ROFL>
!!!!!
Tim Channon
> post-luminescence health factor ;)
Before you do that we have to get a committee to sit on the Pickle.
The committee's first task is to produce a formal specification for a SPICE
model of glowing pickle, plus a VHDL test sweet. (syntatic sugar)
I bring to the attention of 'committee the matter of unification of EC power
voltages at 230V and the matter that the committee should report before the
change. Alternatives may lead to the committee landing in the pickle.
The popular American brand is apparently called Pickle Lite and operates on
110v, the committee should not address such brands because those are being
looked into by the ANSI See committee.
Furthermore there is the matter of used pickle which has been described as
hot stuff. Has anyone done radiological tests?
As the committee will be aware it is necessary to acknowledge humanitarian
issues and environmental issues so has the committee considered the basic
rights of pickle under the St Petersburg last rites convention? Has the
committee considered the photonic pollution?
Anouther matter, a rather sensitive matter is the sexuality of glowing pickle.
There have been conflicting reports on this and it seems likely that pickles
have preferences, mostly AC/DC. I personally recommend a full study of the
social issues involved with particular emphasis on the age of maturity.
Some delicacy may be needed with pickles originating from little old ladies
who could be offended. Care should be exercised with pickles and choosing.
Certain pickles have also been seen emitting a red light and in those cases I
suggest that a public health campaign should be considered.
As a matter of public decency such pickles should not use transparent glass
jars.
A further health issue is the common spitting of glowing pickles. The
committee should end up well covered on this one.
The matter of spitting neatly leads me into the noise issue. It is very
obvious that the SPL* has to be limited to acceptable levels where the general
public has access to the jar.
There seems to be a problem with weighting, particularly pink noise is less
obnoxious so a colour coding according to the colour of light emitted might
be possible.
There have been reports of extremly penatrating noises eminating from a
variety called Piccalo.
I suggest that an immediate stop is put on glowing pickle until it has
permission to make a noise and it must be referred to as A waiting pickle. It
is provisionally suggested that the pickle must pick a low before starting.
* -- Spitting Pickle Level
Lastly the committee should consider EMC*, very hot issues.
The light emissions are associated with electrical activity so the
possibility of mutual interference has to be considered. (this may be
connected with the sexuality issue)
A first issue to be addressed is the matter of a suitable pickup.
*EMC -- Eaten Madras Curry
ISO GPSG 29 Apr 1994
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agenda for the next meeting:
1. Pickle -- a derogatory term?
2. Vote on proposal for an official name change -- AVFP (Acidfied Vegatable
Food Product)
3. Talk entitled "Leyden jar or laden jar, an illuminating parallel?"
4. any other business