Make a Lemon Battery
Batteries contain a
chemical called an electrolyte, which allows a chemical reaction to
occur between the electrodes, which creates electricity. Lemon
juice will act as an electrolyte.
You Will Need:
- a lemon
- a brass drawing pin or thumbtack
- a steel paper clip
- a torch bulb
- electrical wire
Directions:
- Place a brass drawing pin or tack and a steel
paper clip into opposite sides of a fresh lemon.
- Connect a low-voltage torch bulb (less than 3
volts) by two pieces of electrical wire to make the
circuit.
- The torch bulb should light up.
What happened?
The juice of the lemon acts as an
electrolyte, similar to the contents of a battery. By using
two different types of metal, one the anode, the other the
cathode, electrons flow through the electric wire, via the
light bulb, from one metal to the other. This causes the bulb to
light!
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Bibliography
Parker, S. Simple
Chemistry (London: Kingfisher, 1990).
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