Lemon Baterry

 Here is another fun activity that you can do at home .ENJOY DOING THE MINI EXPERIMENT!

Lemon Batteries

Purpose

To introduce galvanic cell and to show that some fruits can serve as electrolytes.

Materials

            Magnesium strips and copper strips

            Red light emitting diode (red LED)

            2 Connecting wires with clips on both ends

            2 Lemons

            Voltmeter

Procedure

1.      Polish the metal strips with sand paper.

2.      Roll and squeeze the lemon on a bench top to loosen the juices inside - don't squeeze too hard.

3.      Cut two slits on top of the lemon, 1 to 2 centimeters apart. Insert the magnesium strip into one slit and zinc strip into the other.

4.       Connect the strips to the voltmeter and LED with connecting wires.

5.       Read the electric potential in volts and observe whether the LED is lit up.

* Alternatively, it is encourage that teacher request students’ to observe what will happen to the LED.

Here a video of the whole process!  

Actually what’s happening?
 

A galvanic cell which converts chemical energy to electrical energy is created. In the process, a redox (oxidation and reduction) process occurs. The magnesium metal will act as anode and copper as cathode while the liquid lemon (citric acid) act as electrolytes. It is the same process as the electricity produced in a battery.

                    Lemon battery