
Weird Glowing Capacitor - peter_d_sherman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma-jnmtR9VA
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peter_d_sherman
[https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=51](https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=51)

>"If you get a lump of Aluminum (foil) and jelly roll it up loosely, you'll
get surprising capacitance on that, and that's because _on one of the plates,
Aluminum Oxide forms_ ; the "other plate" is actually the electrolyte (Borax
or Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) solution), and the other bit of Aluminum
in there is just acting as a contact for the electrolyte."

[https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=95](https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=95)

>"The idea of that actually came from early radio experiments when you can
make your own _rectifier (diode)_ by using Aluminum, any other metal, Borax or
Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) solution."

(Also, avoid Copper as the other metal, as the whole thing apparently turns
blue-green).

[https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=280](https://youtu.be/ma-jnmtR9VA?t=280)

>"So this little setup, we can not only use it as a capacitor, but we can also
use it as a rectifier, and as a glow-in-the-dark capacitor."

PDS: Now, here's the thing... if it's possible to make a diode (aka
"rectifier") out of Aluminum foil alone, because (apparently) an Aluminum
Oxide layer forms -- and when you've got a layer of Aluminum next to a layer
of Aluminum Oxide, you've got a diode -- then it might be possible to create a
_transistor_ \-- this way, or using a similar method, as well... it would be
very interesting to see if that could be accomplished...

