How to Create a Battery from a Lemon
Gather your materials., Squeeze the lemon without breaking its skin., Cut a small slit through the rind in the middle of the lemon., Insert the penny and the nail into the lemon., Attach the voltmeter clips to the nail and penny.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Gather your materials.
To make a lemon battery you will need a copper penny, a galvanized nail, a lemon (10 total), a knife, and a voltmeter.
Adult supervision is recommended, especially while handling the knife.
Rinse the penny with a light detergent to ensure you are working with a clean surface.Any lemon will do, but a lemon with a thinner rind will make a better battery.
If you have one, a strip of copper will work better than just a penny.
Galvanized nails have a zinc coating that is important to this experiment.They can be found in any standard hardware or home improvement store.
Aluminum foil can be substituted for the nail if you don’t have one.
A voltmeter can be purchased at a hardware or home improvement store. -
Step 2: Squeeze the lemon without breaking its skin.
You can roll the lemon on a table applying a small amount of downward pressure.
The squeezing action releases the juices inside the lemon needed for the battery to work.
The acidity of the juice in a lemon makes it ideal for this sort of chemical reaction.
It contains the solution of molecules necessary to carry electric current between the two metal ends of a battery., The slit needs to be large enough to insert the copper penny about halfway into the lemon.
Adult supervision is recommended for this step.
You want the penny to stay firmly in place so don’t cut the slit too large. , The penny should fit nicely into the slit you’ve already made.
The nail should be pushed into the lemon about 2 centimeters away from the penny.
These items will serve as the positive and negative ends of your battery.
The metals need to be close to each other in order for the necessary chemical reaction to take place.Be careful not to have the nail and penny touch within each lemon.
If they touch, the battery will not function properly and you won’t get any voltage.
Make sure the penny and the nail are deep enough to be in contact with the juice of the lemon. , Using the end clips of the voltmeter, attach one clip to the nail and the other clip to the penny.
You should see a small increase in voltage on the voltmeter.
If the voltmeter is reading a negative value, simply switch the clips on the nail and penny and it should change to a positive voltage.
If the voltage is very low, try moving the nail closer to the penny. -
Step 3: Cut a small slit through the rind in the middle of the lemon.
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Step 4: Insert the penny and the nail into the lemon.
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Step 5: Attach the voltmeter clips to the nail and penny.
Detailed Guide
To make a lemon battery you will need a copper penny, a galvanized nail, a lemon (10 total), a knife, and a voltmeter.
Adult supervision is recommended, especially while handling the knife.
Rinse the penny with a light detergent to ensure you are working with a clean surface.Any lemon will do, but a lemon with a thinner rind will make a better battery.
If you have one, a strip of copper will work better than just a penny.
Galvanized nails have a zinc coating that is important to this experiment.They can be found in any standard hardware or home improvement store.
Aluminum foil can be substituted for the nail if you don’t have one.
A voltmeter can be purchased at a hardware or home improvement store.
You can roll the lemon on a table applying a small amount of downward pressure.
The squeezing action releases the juices inside the lemon needed for the battery to work.
The acidity of the juice in a lemon makes it ideal for this sort of chemical reaction.
It contains the solution of molecules necessary to carry electric current between the two metal ends of a battery., The slit needs to be large enough to insert the copper penny about halfway into the lemon.
Adult supervision is recommended for this step.
You want the penny to stay firmly in place so don’t cut the slit too large. , The penny should fit nicely into the slit you’ve already made.
The nail should be pushed into the lemon about 2 centimeters away from the penny.
These items will serve as the positive and negative ends of your battery.
The metals need to be close to each other in order for the necessary chemical reaction to take place.Be careful not to have the nail and penny touch within each lemon.
If they touch, the battery will not function properly and you won’t get any voltage.
Make sure the penny and the nail are deep enough to be in contact with the juice of the lemon. , Using the end clips of the voltmeter, attach one clip to the nail and the other clip to the penny.
You should see a small increase in voltage on the voltmeter.
If the voltmeter is reading a negative value, simply switch the clips on the nail and penny and it should change to a positive voltage.
If the voltage is very low, try moving the nail closer to the penny.
About the Author
Jason Hamilton
Committed to making cooking accessible and understandable for everyone.
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