Lemon and science - Battery from Lemon???

By: Urszula G-K on 12/02/2009

'Lemon battery is called voltaic. It changes its chemical energy into electrical one.'

To all of those who think lemon is good only in your drink, found some examples where this lovely fruit can be used in scientific experiments! Aha!

If you like you can create a battery out of lemon (juice - plays the vital part in here).
All you need is a lemon (what a surprise :), sheet of sandpaper, steel paper clip (a big one), wire clippers and a wire. The best one would be 18-gauge copper wire but the smaller gauge is good too.

To start experiment we need to strip 2 inches of the insulation off the copper wire.
Wrap the 2 inches of bare wire around the clippers. Straighten out the paper clip and cut 2 inches of the resourced steel wire. You will have to use the sandpaper to smooth the rough ends of straightened paper clip and the wire.

Now we go to a lemon, squeeze it gently with your hands. The best technique (just like chefs do) is to roll them on a table while gently applying a pressure.

All it's left - push the pieces of paper clip and the wire into the lemon. Make sure they are situated very close to each other as long as they not touching.

And now the risky part like in every experiment :)

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! :)
Make sure your tongue is moistened (no drooling!) with saliva and touch the tip of your tongue to the free ends of the two wires.

And voila! Is you are a good scientists you will be able to feel a slight tingle on the end of your tongue, plus as they call it a metallic aftertaste.

PS. If you think you might use lemons as a battery for your radio or a bulb you will most definitely end up highly disappointed, as the fruit produces a tiny amount of electricity.

Tags: science experiments 

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