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Lemon Battery

This document introduces how to create a simple lemon battery as an experiment to learn about electricity. It explains that batteries are made from two different metals (a zinc nail and copper penny) and an acidic solution (lemon juice). Lemon batteries produce a small amount of voltage that can be measured with a multimeter, but not enough current to light a bulb. The document provides instructions for setting up the lemon battery and measuring its voltage.

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Ronald Lazo
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96 views3 pages

Lemon Battery

This document introduces how to create a simple lemon battery as an experiment to learn about electricity. It explains that batteries are made from two different metals (a zinc nail and copper penny) and an acidic solution (lemon juice). Lemon batteries produce a small amount of voltage that can be measured with a multimeter, but not enough current to light a bulb. The document provides instructions for setting up the lemon battery and measuring its voltage.

Uploaded by

Ronald Lazo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cool Electronics

Now that you have learned about electricity, how to measure it, and the many
things that it can do, let’s see if we can make some electricity on our own.
Here’s an experiment you can try. It may be a good idea to have your learning
partner assist you in this experiment.

The Lemon Battery


You may have already heard of this experiment, but successfully creating one
of these devices is not always easy.


Batteries are made from two different metals and an acidic solution. Copper
and zinc work well as the two metals, and the citric acid of a lemon will
provide the acidic solution. (This lemon battery will not be able to run most
light bulbs.)
Here is a list of things that you will need to do this experiment.
n A lemon: A fresh, juicy lemon works best.
n A nail: Galvanized nails are coated in zinc. Use a 2-inch galvanized nail
(available from a hardware store).
n A penny: Any copper coin will work. (Canadian pennies from 1960–2001
should all work.)

M o dul e 1: Int r o du c t i o n t o E l e c t r o ni c s 11
Let’s create the battery:
n Push a galvanized nail into one side of the lemon. (The nail and penny
cannot touch.)
n Put a penny into a cut on the opposite end of the lemon.
This is a single cell of a battery. The zinc nail and the copper penny are
called the electrodes. The lemon juice is called the electrolyte. All batteries
have a “+” and “–” terminal. You can create a battery anytime you have two
dissimilar metals and an electrolyte.


Electric current is the flow of electrons. Conductors allow electrons to flow
through them. Most metals (copper, iron) are good conductors of electricity.
Electrons will flow from the “–” (negative) electrode of a battery, through a
conductor, towards the “+” (positive) electrode of a battery. Volts (voltage)
is the measure of force moving the electrons or making them want to move.
(High voltage is dangerous, but in this experiment the voltage is low.) We
will go into exactly what electricity is and how it flows in greater detail in
Module 2.
Connect the multimeter to our lemon
battery. Put the meter selection knob
to the Volts DC setting. The meter
will tell us how many volts are being
generated. Note the amount of
voltage shown on the meter for use
in Learning Activity 1.3.
Unfortunately this battery will not
produce enough current (flowing
electrons) to light a bulb.

12 G r a d e 10 E l e c t r i c i t y/ E l e c t r o n i c s Te c h n o l o g y
Learning Activity 1.3

Testing Volts
Record your results below.

1. The voltage that my lemon battery produced was volts DC.


You might want to try using a different fruit or even a potato and see
what kind of voltage you can get, if any. It goes without saying that once
you put the nail and penny into the lemon, or any other fruit or vegetable,
do not eat it! You will have to dispose of it.

(Optional activity)
2. I also tried using a as a battery and the Volts DC
on the meter read .

Check your answers in the Learning Activity Answer Keys found at the
end of this module.

M o dul e 1: Int r o du c t i o n t o E l e c t r o ni c s 13

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