Energy from lemons
Have the batteries in your torch run out? Never fear! Make a battery from lemon and let your light shine.
Get started
Step 1
Press a coin into one side of each lemon. You can also make a small slit with a knife first. Press a screw into the other side of the lemon. The coins and the screws must not touch each other.
Step 2
Connect the coin in one lemon and the screw in the other lemon with an electric wire. Repeat this step.
Step 3
Connect the last screw to the short pin of the LED bulb.
Step 4
Connect the first coin to the other pin of the LED bulb. Go to a dark room to check if your light is working.
Please note: you cannot eat the lemons after you have used them as a battery!
So what do you know now?
A lemon is packed with citric acid. This acid allows electricity to flow through a lemon. The coins are made of copper and the screws contain zinc. Both these metals are good conductors of electricity. When you connect the lightbulb, the electricity passes through the wire, the coins, the lemon and the screws, and the light comes on. See what happens when you connect another lemon. Can you make a battery using another type of fruit or vegetable?
