News Excerpt:
Among all the electronic and chemical technologies humans have developed to battle the mosquitos, the most impressive is the 'electric tennis bat'. The mosquito bat is akin to a portable thunderstorm for them.
About Mosquito bats:
- The bat’s working principle is simple.
- There are three metal meshes. The one at the center is positively charged and the outer ones are negatively charged.
- When the layers don’t touch each other, current can’t flow. But when a mosquito connects them, a current passes through and kills the insect.
- Essentially the mosquito receives an electric shock as the circuit for the flow of current gets completed.
- The current generated in the bat is around 1,400 V, which is equivalent to about a thousand regular batteries.
- This voltage drives a powerful electric current through the mosquito while also creating sparks.
Scientific Principle:
- Electric current is the flow of electrons through a complete circuit of conductors. When the negative and the positively charged meshes get in touch through the mosquito, the circuit gets completed.
- Electric current is carried by electrons, the negatively charged fundamental particles that usually revolve around positively charged protons in every atom.
- Every atom has an equal number of protons and electrons, rendering them electrically neutral.
- A battery generates electric force. How much electric force is generated depends on the battery’s volt value. The higher the voltage, the greater the force.
- For example, the pencil battery that powers our wall clocks is usually 1.5 V. A phone battery has a comparable range.
- These are strong enough to drive currents through clocks and phones but not strong enough to give humans electric shocks.
- The current supplied to our household appliances comes with a voltage of 220V, which is enough to electrocute us.
