d battery experiments

• Science Notes Posts
• Contact Science Notes
• Todd Helmenstine Biography
• Anne Helmenstine Biography
• Free Printable Periodic Tables (PDF and PNG)
• Periodic Table Wallpapers
• Interactive Periodic Table
• Periodic Table Posters
• Science Experiments for Kids
• How to Grow Crystals
• Chemistry Projects
• Fire and Flames Projects
• Holiday Science
• Chemistry Problems With Answers
• Physics Problems
• Unit Conversion Example Problems
• Chemistry Worksheets
• Biology Worksheets
• Periodic Table Worksheets
• Physical Science Worksheets
• Science Lab Worksheets
• My Amazon Books

Lemon Battery Experiment

The lemon battery experiment is a classic science project that illustrates an electrical circuit, electrolytes, the electrochemical series of metals, and oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions . The battery produces enough electricity to power an LED or other small device, but not enough to cause harm, even if you touch both electrodes. Here is how to construct a lemon battery, a look at how it works, and ways of turning the project into an experiment.

Lemon Battery Materials

You need a few basic materials for a lemon battery, which are available at a grocery store and hardware store.

• Galvanized nail
• Copper penny, strip, or wire
• Wires or strips of aluminum foil
• Alligator clips or electrical tape
• An LED bulb, multimeter, digital clock, or calculator

If you don’t have a lemon, use any citrus fruit. A galvanized nail is a steel nail that is plated with zinc. The classic project uses copper and zinc because these two metals are inexpensive and readily available. However, you can use any two conductive metals, as long as they are different from each other.

Make a Lemon Battery

• Gently squeeze the lemon or roll it on a table to soften it. This helps the juice flow within the fruit.
• Insert the copper and zinc into the fruit. You want the maximum surface area in the juicy part of the fruit. The lemon peel helps support the metal, but if it is very thick and the metal does not reach the juice, scrape away part of the peel. Ideally, separate the metal pieces by about 2 inches (5 centimeters). Make sure the metals are not touching each other.
• Connect a wire to the galvanized nail using an alligator clip or electrical tape. Repeat the process with the copper item.
• Connect the free ends of the wire to an LED or other small electronic device. When you connect the second wire, the light turns on.

Increase the Power

The voltage of a lemon battery is around 1.3 V to 1.5 V, but it generates very little current. There are two easy ways of increasing the battery’s power.

• Use two pennies and two copper pieces in the lemon. You don’t want any of the metal pieces within the fruit to touch. As before, connect one zinc and one copper piece to the LED. But, wire the other zinc and copper to each other.
• Wire more lemons in series with each other. Insert a nail and copper piece into each nail. Connect the copper of one lemon to the zinc of the next lemon. Connect the nail at the end of the series to the LED and the copper at the end of the series to the LED. If you don’t have lots of lemons, you can cut up one lemon into pieces.

How a Lemon Battery Works

A lemon battery is similar to Volta’s first battery, except he used salt water instead of lemon juice. The zinc and copper are electrodes. The lemon juice is an electrolyte . Lemon juice contains citric acid. While both salts and acids are examples of electrolytes, acids typically do a better job in batteries.

Connecting the zinc and copper electrodes using a wire (even with an LED or multimeter between them) completes an electrical circuit. The circuit is a loop through the zinc, the wire, the copper, and the electrolyte, back to the zinc.

Zinc dissolves in lemon juice, leaving zinc ions (Zn 2+ ) in the juice, while the two electrons per atom move through the wire toward the copper. The following chemical reaction represents this oxidation reaction :

Zn → Zn 2+  + 2e −

Citric acid is a weak acid, but it partially dissociates and leaves some positively charged hydrogen ions (H + ) in the juice. The copper electrode does not dissolve. The excess electrons at the copper electrode combine with the hydrogen ions and form hydrogen gas at the copper electrode. This is a reduction reaction.

2H + + 2e −  → H 2

If you perform the project using lemon juice instead of a lemon, you may observe tiny hydrogen gas bubbles forming on the copper electrode.

Try Other Fruits and Vegetables

The key for using produce in a battery is choosing a fruit of vegetable high in acid (with a low pH). Citrus fruits (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit) contain citric acid. You don’t need a whole fruit. Orange juice and lemonade work fine. Potatoes work well because they contain phosphoric acid. Boiling potatoes before using them increases their effectiveness. Sauerkraut contains lactic acid. Vinegar works because it contains acetic acid.

Experiment Ideas

Turn the lemon battery into an experiment by applying the scientific method . Make observations about the battery, ask questions, and design experiments to test predictions or a hypothesis .

• Experiment with other materials for the electrodes besides a galvanized nail and copper item. Other common metals available in everyday life include iron, steel, aluminum, tin, and silver. Try using a nickel and a penny. What do you think will happen if you use two galvanized nails and no copper, or two pennies and no nails? What happens if you try to use plastic, wood, or glass as an electrode? Can you explain your results?
• If you have a multimeter, explore whether the distance between the electrodes affects the voltage and current of your circuit.
• How big is the effect of adding a second lemon to the circuit? Does it change the voltage? Does it change the current?
• Try making batteries using other foods from the kitchen. Predict which ones you think will work and test them. Of course, try fruits and vegetables. Also consider liquids like water, salt water, milk and juice, and condiments, like ketchup, mustard, and salsa.

The lemon battery dates back to at least 2000 years ago. Archaeologists discovered a battery in Iraq using a clay pot, lemon juice, copper, iron, and tar. Of course, people using this battery did not know about electrochemistry or even what electricity was. The use of the ancient battery is unknown.

Credit for discovery of the battery goes to Italian scientists Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta. In 1780, Luigi Galvani demonstrated copper, zinc, and frog legs (acting as an electrolyte) produced electricity. Galvani published his work in 1790. An electrochemical cell is called a galvanic cell in his honor.

Alessandro Volta proved electricity did not require an animal. He used brine-soaked paper as an electrolyte and invented the voltaic pile in 1799. A voltaic pile is a stack of galvanic cells, with each cell consisting of a metal disk, an electrolyte layer, and a disk of a different metal.

• Goodisman, Jerry (2001). “Observations on Lemon Cells”. Journal of Chemical Education . 78(4): 516–518. doi: 10.1021/ed078p516
• Margles, Samantha (2011). “ Does a Lemon Battery Really Work? “. Mythbusters Science Fair Book . Scholastic. ISBN 9780545237451.
• Naidu, M. S.; Kamakshiaih, S. (1995). Introduction to Electrical Engineering . Tata McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 9780074622926.
• Schmidt, Hans-Jürgen; Marohn, Annette; Harrison, Allan G. (2007). “Factors that prevent learning in electrochemistry”. Journal of Research in Science Teaching . 44 (2): 258–283. doi: 10.1002/tea.20118
• Swartling, Daniel J.; Morgan, Charlotte (1998). “Lemon Cells Revisited—The Lemon-Powered Calculator”. Journal of Chemical Education . 75 (2): 181–182. doi: 10.1021/ed075p181

Related Posts

Science Bob

• Experiments
• Science Fair Ideas
• Science Q&A
• Research Help
• Experiment Blog

more in Experiments

Make an electromagnet, you will need.

A large iron nail (about 3 inches) About 3 feet of THIN COATED copper wire A fresh D size battery Some paper clips or other small magnetic objects

1. Leave about 8 inches of wire loose at one end and wrap most of the rest of the wire around the nail. Try not to overlap the wires. 2. Cut the wire (if needed) so that there is about another 8 inches loose at the other end too.

3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. See picture below. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery – be careful though, the wire could get very hot!) 4. Now you have an ELECTROMAGNET! Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and it should pick them up! NOTE: Making an electromagnet uses up the battery somewhat quickly which is why the battery may get warm, so disconnect the wires when you are done exploring.

How does it work?

Most magnets, like the ones on many refrigerators, cannot be turned off, they are called permanent magnets. Magnets like the one you made that can be turned on and off, are called ELECTROMAGNETS. They run on electricity and are only magnetic when the electricity is flowing. The electricity flowing through the wire arranges the molecules in the nail so that they are attracted to certain metals. NEVER get the wires of the electromagnet near at household outlet! Be safe – have fun!

MAKE IT AN EXPERIMENT

The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. Does the number of times you wrap the wire around the nail affect the strength of the nail?

2. Does the thickness or length of the nail affect the electromagnets strength?

3. Does the thickness of the wire affect the power of the electromagnet?

More Images & Video

More from my site

ADS (these ads support our free website)

Share this page.

How to Make a Homemade Battery Science Experiment

• Science Experiments

Are you tired of ads too?

For a small fee you can get this site – and all the free goodies – 100% ad-free!

Looking for a really cool and practice  science experiment for kids ? Your kids will be wowed and amazed at this  how to make a battery science project ! This  homemade battery experiment is a great introduction to electricity for kids and only uses a couple simple materials to allow children to understand how batteries work while trying a battery experiment.   This  battery science project is perfect for first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th graders too. Even parents, homeschoolers, and teachers will enjoy this  electricity experiments for kids .

How to make a battery science project

Harnessing the power of electricity is truly one of mankind’s greatest achievements. From indoor lighting to smartphones, being able to use electrical energy to our advantage has completely changed the course of human history. This how to make a battery science project provides kids with a simple, inexpensive way to create their own homemade battery experiment  using materials that are likely already in their home (pennies, aluminum foil, paper towels, vinegar, and duct tape). With an inexpensive LED, kids can use their homemade batteries to power a useful device and feel some of the excitement that early inventors must have felt over two hundred years ago. Try this battery science project with grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 6 elementary age and middle school students.

Electricity experiments for kids

Electricity is a form of energy that comes from charged particles.  In nearly all electrical devices, negatively charged particles called electrons flow along a wire to create a current which is used to power the device. A wire that is not connected to a power source has no reason to create an electrical current. When batteries are connected within a circuit, electrons want to flow from the negative electrode (called the anode) to the positive electrode (called the cathode) creating the current that will power the load.

Within a battery, a separator is placed between anode and cathode to keep the electrons from flowing directly from one electrode to the other, forcing the electrons to flow along the external wire and power our devices. Another substance, called an electrolyte, is also placed between the anode and cathode. The electrolyte promotes the chemical reactions which will cause the anode to become negatively charged and the cathode to become positively charged. In this simple homemade experiment the anode is the aluminum foil, the cathode is the penny, the separator is the paper towel, and the electrolyte is the vinegar.

How to make a homemade battery

All you need are a few simple materials to try this  homemade battery:

• Pennies (at least 5 if you would like to use your batteries to light up an LED)
• Aluminum foil (only a small amount, about a foot (~1/3 meter) of length is needed)
• Paper towels (about 1 square)
• Vinega r (I used distilled white vinegar, but the type is not important. Could also use lemon juice or salt water. You only need a small amount.)
• LED (optional, but the activity is more fun if you have something to power. I used a green LED which only required 2 volts to light. Some LEDs may require more.)
• Alligator clips (optional, makes it easy to connect battery in a circuit, but could also use strips of aluminum foil instead. I only used 2.)
• Voltmeter (optional, but makes the activity more meaningful if the child can measure how much voltage their battery produces.)

Homemade Battery Experiment

To make your homemade battery, first tear a square piece of aluminum foil about 3 inches (8 cm) per side. Exact dimensions are not important.

Battery science project

Battery experiment

DIY Battery

Layer the penny, paper towel square, and aluminum foil squares on top of the duct tape. The penny should stick out from the duct tape slightly. Line up the paper towel with the duct tape edge on the penny side (and be completely covered on the other side). The aluminum foil should hang over the other end of the duct tape and should not touch the penny at all.

How to make a battery

Finally, add a few drops of vinegar to the paper towel to act as the electrolyte. Your battery is complete.

Homemade battery science experiment

Use alligator clips to attach the ends of your battery series to the LED. Remember that an LED is directional. You will most likely need to attach the long leg of the LED to the penny end. Then attach the short leg to the aluminum foil, but if it does not work, try switching the leads.

You can use your hands or some other heavy object (like a banana) to make sure all connections are firmly in place.

How cool is that!

Science for Kids

Looking for lots more fun, science experiments for kids? You’ve GOT to try some of these outrageously fun science experiments for kids! We have so many fun, creative and easy science experiments for elementary age children:

• 100 Amazing Food science experiments for kids – arranged by type of science
• Colorful Capillary action science experiment (also known as walking water)
• Amaze kids with these 12 Hands on Science experiments with batteries
• 24 Epic Solar system science project s to try this week
• 5 minute Surface Tension Experiment for Kids
• Fun Water balloon science experiment that explores density
• 50 Fun Preschool science experiments the whole family will want to try
• Simple Galaxy science project
• Easy and Fun Dancing Raisins Experiment
• Learn about weather as you find how to make a weather vane
• Eye opening Eye science experiments
• Easy-to- make Air pressure science project
• Amazing POP rocks science experiment is one of our all-time favorite science experiments we like to do during the summer are
• Stunning Chromatography Flowers are so pretty you’ll forget it was as science project!
• How to Make a Lava Lamp – super easy and SO cool!
• 30 Simple machines science project s kids will want to try
• Easy, fascinating, and colorful project answering Why do Leaves Change Color Experiment

• Free Printable Animal Classifications for Kids Cootie Catchers
• 19 Edible science experiments – which delicious project will you try first?
• HUGE Free Solar System Unit (coloring pages, hands on science projects, worksheets, and more!)
• Pipe Cleaner Constellation Activity (As seen on Good Housekeeping!)
• Teach kids about conductivity with this fun squishy circuits projects
• Amazing, Heat Sensitive,  Color Changing Slime
• Life Cycles for Kids (from penguin to sunflower and spider to turkey we have LOTS of life cycles to explore and learn about)
• EASY, Colorful Oil and Water Science Experiment
• Kids will be amazed as you change colors of white flowers with this Dying Flowers Science Experiment
• This super cool Lego Zipline is fun and simple to make
• Human Body Project
• Check out this super cool look INSIDE a Volcano Project
• Easy Rubber Band Powered Car
• Paint Stick Solar System Project for Kids
• Fun-to-Make Lego Balloon Car Project
• Candy Corn Catapults STEM Project for Kids
• EPIC Exploding Snowman Science Experiment for Winter
• Melting Christmas Science Experiments
• Exploding Watermelon – science experiment that explores potential and kinetic energy with a big WOW moment!
• Memorable Life Size Skeletal system science project – includes free printable template
• Find LOTS more Easy Science Experiments for kids of all ages!

Summer Bucket List Ideas

Perhaps you are looking to fill up your activity calendars with fun summer activities for kids. (Or try our Ice Cream Summer Bucket List ) Don’t miss these other must-try kids summer kids activities :

• Amazing Bubble Painting Project
• Silly Grass Craft for Kids
• Giant Bubble Solution
• Edible Ice Cream Playdough Recipe
• Birthday Coding Bracelet – fun coding activity for kids
• AMAZING Tin Foil Art
• Easy Ice Cream in a Bag
• Blowing Colorful Clouds (Summer Activity for Kids)
• Handprint Strawberry Craft
• Color by Number Summer
• Squirt Gun Painting
• 30 Super Fun June Crafts for Kids
• Mason Jar Flower Craft for Kids
• June Stories for Kids and free printable activity calendar

Beth Gorden

Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! She has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids ABCs, science, English grammar, history, math, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables – www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com. Beth studied at the University of Northwestern where she got a double major to make her effective at teaching children while making education FUN!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Lemon Battery Science Experiment

We love building circuits around here. From our very first Circuit Bugs creation to Potato Batteries , we have had a lot of fun over the years experimenting with low voltage experiments and electricity in our elementary science lessons. With summer here, that means lemons and lemonade. It also means it was time for us to create the favourite lemon battery science experiment.

How to Build a Lemon Battery

What you will discover in this article!

Disclaimer: This article may contain commission or affiliate links. As an Amazon Influencer I earn from qualifying purchases. Not seeing our videos? Turn off any adblockers to ensure our video feed can be seen. Or visit our YouTube channel to see if the video has been uploaded there. We are slowly uploading our archives. Thanks!

We often talk around here about the energy in nature and in everything around us. When we can power a light bulb with that energy it suddenly makes it very real for my kids. That energy isn’t just some crazy weird thing that I babble on about, it is this very real power that is showing itself right in front of them.

Normally our circuits are powered by batteries, but one day I convinced the kids we could power a light bulb with nothing but a potato. You should have seen the looks on their faces! Serious side eye was thrown my way.

Then, once they stopped straining their eyeballs, we built a potato battery and it worked! These kinds of science experiments for kids really stick with them. Why? Because it makes things real that they can’t otherwise see. Like the energy in our food.

Plus, when a child starts a science experiment with serious doubts, yet still achieves success, it powers up their curiosity!

So when we went grocery shopping and there was a huge pile of fresh, juicy looking lemons on display the kids asked to buy some for lemonade, but I knew we had another science experiment in our future.

Note: These food based battery experiments produce low voltage and are safe for older, responsible children to do under adult supervision.

How to Build a Lemon Battery Video

Watch as I go through the whole experiment step by step in our video tutorial. If you can’t see the video, please turn off your adblockers as they also block our video feed. Alternatively, you can also find this video on the STEAM Powered Family YouTube Channel .

Lemon Battery Materials

Lemons! You need at least 4 to create enough energy, but why not grab extras and experiment? Copper anode strip plates Zinc anode strip plates Alligator clips with wires (2 per cell, so minimum 8 if you are creating a 4 cell battery) LED light diodes Multimeter Knife and cutting board

Copper and Zinc plates are invaluable in our science experiments, but if you don’t have them, you can use copper pennies (the older the better) and zinc plated (aka galvanized) nails. Copper wire can also be used, and a search of your local hardware store is likely to produce other copper and zinc items you could test in your experiment.

The first step is to roll the lemons. Just like you would if you were about to eat or juice them. This releases the juices inside and we want our lemons as juicy as possible.

Start with one lemon and make a small cut through the peel on either end. It is very important that you place these far enough apart that the electrodes don’t touch.

Insert a copper plate on one side and a zinc plate on the other side.

Now using your multimeter test your energy levels.

We have energy!

Now it is time to start adding more cells (lemons) to our battery.

Repeat the above steps on a second lemon. Once you are finished use an alligator clip to connect the zinc plate on the first lemon to the copper plate on the second lemon.

Test your energy level with 2 cells (you will test by touching the copper plate on the first lemon and zinc on the second). Remember you are completing the circuit.

Now repeat the steps to add a third and fourth cell.

At 4 cells we are now registering more energy than 2 AA batteries, which we tested in our Potato Cell experiment .

Now it is time to hook up our light bulb!

Voila! Light!

The goal of making a lemon battery is to turn chemical energy into electrical energy, creating enough electricity to power a small LED light. You can also use limes, oranges, potatoes , pumpkins/squash , or other acidic foods. 

How A Lemon Battery Works

How does a lemon battery work? The science behind how food can power a light bulb is really fascinating. Food has energy. With a lemon battery we are capturing that energy and using it to light up a LED. To do this we need electrodes to capture the energy from our electrolyte.

The zinc and copper plates are called electrodes, and the lemon juice is our electrolyte.

All batteries have a “+” (known as the cAll batteries have a “+” (known as the cathode) and a “-” (known as the anode) terminal. In our lemon battery, the copper plate is our positive cathode and the zinc plate the negative anode. The zinc metal (our negative anode) reacts with the acidic lemon juice (mostly from citric acid) to produce zinc ions (Zn2+) and electrons (2 e-).

Electric current is created by the flow of atomic particles called electrons. Conductors are materials that allow electrons (and the electrical current) to flow through them. Electrons flow from the negative to the positive terminal.

So in our experiment electrons are flowing from our zinc plate, through the lemon juice to the copper plate. From there it goes into our alligator clip, along the wire, into the zinc plate on the next lemon, where it picks up more energy as it travels through that cell. It continues on, building energy with each additional cell we add. Until finally we have enough voltage to power a light bulb.

Volts (or voltage) is a measurement of the force moving the electrons through our lemon battery.  The higher the voltage the more power the battery has, but higher voltage also means greater danger. Always remember to be careful and safe around electricity. Thankfully our lemon battery is very low voltage.

Troubleshooting

There are a number of things that can cause issues with your Lemon Battery.

First, make sure none of your electrodes are touching anything other that lemon and alligator clips. Also, ensure your alligator clips are placed near the peel of the lemon.

Did you roll your lemons? You want them juicy for this experiment to work.

Did you mix up any of your connections? Remember you always want to link “+” to “-“. On an standard LED light bulb the longer pin is the positive connection.

Does your LED bulb work? Test it on a coin battery to ensure your bulb works. It may be you have a faulty bulb.

Another area that can cause problems is the quality of your copper and zinc. You want your copper and zinc to be as pure as possible so it can conduct the electrons without any interference. This is one of the reasons I suggest investing in proper plates, so you know the quality of your materials when conducting experiments.

Finally, these food based batteries dimly light up the LED. If you hook your LED up to a regular battery, it will glow much brighter.

More Fruit Battery Experiments

So now we have made both a lemon battery and a potato battery, which one is better? Both were able to light up our LED light bulbs, so in that sense they are both successful. However, the potato battery was definitely a lot more work. So if you are looking for a quicker experiment, the lemon battery is faster and easier. However, both have significant opportunities for learning and would make great science fair projects. Why not do both yourself and see what you think?

And in the fall, don’t forget to make a battery with pumpkins and squash ! The concept is similar to Lemon Batteries but with a Autumn/Halloween theme.

Want to dig in more? Try this experiment with other citrus fruit such as oranges or lime or grapefruit. You can also combine a variety of fruits to see which combination makes the best fruit battery.

How to Reuse Lemon Battery Cells

This lemon science project is a ton of fun but once you are done, what can you do with the lemons? It seems like such a waste to throw them out. We have two really cool projects to do next with your lemons!

Check out the gorgeous lemon volcano we created here after building our lemon batterie s!

Another great project with these lemons is to make Lemon Oobleck for a fun, summery sensory project.

More Electricity Experiments

5 Days of Smart STEM Ideas for Kids

Get started in STEM with easy, engaging activities.

• Compare Batteries

• Find Specialty Battery Replacements

• Compare Chargers
• Browse by Type

• About Batteries
• Technical Information

Science Center

• Bunny Center
• More Energizer® Power Products

• Find Energizer ® Lighting Products

Product Collection

• Energizer ® Weatheready ®
• Energizer ® Hard Case ® Professional
• Energizer ® Headlamps
• Energizer ® Vision HD Performance Metal
• Energizer ® Performance Metal Tactical Lights
• Energizer Intrinsically Safe ®
• Energizer ® PAW Patrol Flashlights
• Energizer ® Stranger Things Flashlights

• About Flashlights
• More Energizer® Lighting Products

Responsibility

Note to students, teachers, and parents —

Before you begin a project please complete these lessons..

Lesson A –  The Principles of Electricity Understanding Ohms & Volts — the basis for all your electric devices

Lesson B –  Build a Power Pack  Learn how you’ll provide the power for all the experiments here

Lesson C –  Make a Simple Circuit  Learn how you can control electricity — build a switch to control its flow

Game to Measure Chance

Steady Hand Game

Make a Flashlight

Make a Compass

Oersted’s Experiment

Make an Electromagnet

Make a Simple Telegraph Set

Make a Galvanometer

Make an Electrical

• For Teachers

• Everyday Activities
• Experiments

Lemon Batteries

Can you get power from a lemon?

Batteries consist of two different metals suspended in an acidic solution.

Is it possible to use the acid in a lemon to power a light? Try it to find out!

Watch the video on YouTube: QYZE-SrpoJ4

You Will Need

4 or more large, fresh, juicy lemons or other citrus fruits

A kitchen knife

4 or more zinc electrodes You can find galvanized washers or roofing nails at most hardware stores, or you can purchase either zinc or magnesium wire online

4 copper electrodes Copper-coated pennies work, or you can find bare copper wire or copper plumbing fittings at most hardware stores

1 light-emitting diode (LED) component We recommend a red LED because they typically need lower voltages to glow than other colors, but many colors will work. The best LEDs for this experiment are designed to glow with a low current such as this set from Amazon , or you can purchase a lesser quantity from Mouser electronics .

6 or more lead wires with alligator clips. Such as this set available on Amazon

Multimeter (optional)

Materials & Directions PDF

NOTE: Some retailers also sell lemon battery kits that can include a buzzer or a low voltage clock. These instructions assume you are using your lemon battery to make an LED glow.

• Ask your scientist to create a testable question.
• Carefully clean your zinc and copper electrodes to remove any dirt or grease. (Careful not to scrub all of the zinc coating off the galvanized washers or nails.)
• Roll one lemon on a hard surface while pushing down to break the cell walls and loosen up the juice inside. The sour (acidic) juice is needed for the chemical reaction that you are about to start.
• Place the lemon on its side on a plate and have an adult carefully use the kitchen knife to make a 2 small cuts in the top of the lemon. Make each cut about two centimeters long, one centimeter deep, and about 0.5-1 centimeters apart. (To conserve lemons, you can cut 1 lemon in half, and put the electrodes in either the cut side or the rind side.)
• Insert one zinc electrode deep into one of the cuts, and one copper electrode deep into the other. Leave some sticking out so you can connect your wires to them. You have now made a lemon cell!

• Set the multimeter to measure DC voltage (V with a straight line). If it has scale options, set it to measure 2000 millivolts (2000m).
• Hook two alligator clips from your leads to the two electrodes. Attach red lead of the multimeter (+) to the copper electrode, and the black lead of the multimeter (-) to the zinc electrode.
• Measure the voltage from your lemon cell. The average lemon cell should read about 0.9–1.0 volts.
• Now set the multimeter to measure current (A with a squiggly line: mÃ/Ã). If it has scale options, set it to measure 1–20mÃ.
• Measure the current of your lemon cell. It should read a few tenths of a milliampere. Some multimeters are not sensitive enough to measure currents less than one milliampere, in which case you will see 0.0 as the reading.
• A red LED typically needs a voltage of 1.2–1.6 V, so we need more power to light the bulb.
• Follow steps 3-5 to make 3 or 4 more lemon cells.
• (Optional) If you have a multimeter, check each lemon battery to make sure it generates voltage and current.
• Connect the zinc electrode on the first lemon to the copper electrode on the second lemon.
• Connect the zinc electrode on the second lemon to the copper electrode on the third lemon.
• Repeat if using more lemons. This type of connection is called a series circuit , and provides one path through which electricity can flow.
• Gently bend the lead wires of the LED apart from each other.
• Connect a lead wire from the copper electrode of the first lemon cell to the longer lead wire from the LED.
• Connect a lead wire from the zinc electrode of the third cell to the shorter wire of the LED.
• Turn down the room lights to see if your LED is glowing! If it isn’t, see the troubleshooting tips below.

Troubleshooting your lemon battery:

• Ensure the electrodes are not touching inside lemon.
• Ensure the alligator clips on the test lead wires are not touching each other where you connect them to the LED.
• The wires from one lemon to the other have to be connected from zinc to copper in order for the electricity to flow.
• Is it an old lemon? The lemon needs to be juicy inside.
• Do you need to add more lemons?
• Is your LED broken? Or does it require a higher voltage to work?
• The quality of the copper and zinc can be problematic. Pennies are rarely pure copper. Try substituting a length of 14 gauge copper wire (common house wire). Experiment with different lengths and configurations of electrodes. Other sources of zinc and copper may be found in the plumbing department of a hardware store.

Discovery Questions

Beginning the experiment, during the experiment, after the experiment, how it works.

Electrochemical cells, also called batteries, require three things—two electrodes and one electrolyte. One of the electrodes has to have a stronger desire for electrons than the other—in chemistry we say that it has a higher electronegativity . The electrode that wants the electrons more is called the cathode , and the one that gives up electrons is electropositive and is called the anode .

Copper likes having electrons more than zinc so it’s more electronegative and is the cathode, leaving zinc to be the anode. An electrolyte is a solution that conducts electricity. The lemon provides citric acid, and acids contain ions which conduct electricity, making the lemon our electrolyte .

When zinc is exposed to the acid in the lemon juice, the acid oxidizes—or removes electrons from the zinc. The resulting positively charged zinc ions move into the lemon juice, and the resulting electrons collect in the zinc metal. They then rush across the wire into the copper which wants electrons more than zinc. Those electrons, now in the copper, pull a couple of protons or hydrogen ions out of the acid and reduce them, adding electrons, which creates hydrogen gas. If we could see inside the lemon, we might be able to see very very tiny bubbles of hydrogen gas forming on the copper electrode. In summary, the electricity is not coming from the lemon by itself, but from the chemical reaction resulting from the differences in electronegativities between zinc and copper.

Source: Dr. Christopher Gorski and Jenelle Fortunato, Penn State College of Engineering

Lemon and Potato Battery Experiment

Learn how to generate electricity from common fruit or vegetables.

Posted by Admin / in Energy & Electricity Experiments

Is it possible to produce electricity from common fruit or vegetables? Fruits and vegetables require energy from the sun to grow and produce a harvest. Is it possible that some of the sun's energy is stored in the produce for our use? We know that by eating fruits and vegetables our body can convert this food to energy. Is it possible to directly generate electricity from a piece of fruit or a vegetable. This lemon battery and potato battery science experiment tests this theory.

Materials Needed

• Copper strip or rod
• Zinc strip or zinc-coated bolt
• Circuit wire or alligator clips with wire

EXPERIMENT STEPS

Step 1: Cut 2 small slits in the skin of both the lemon and the potato. Make the slits are a few inches apart.

Step 2: Push the copper and zinc strips into the slits in each piece of produce. Make sure the rods do not touch each other.

Step 3: Connect an electrical wire to the end of each metal strip. Alligator clips make this step easy.

Step 4: Measure the voltage drop between the two wires attached to the metal strips on the lemon and the potato. This is the amount of voltage being produced by each piece of produce. Compare the difference in the amount of voltage produced by a lemon and a potato. What do you notice? How long will the fruit and vegetable generate voltage?

Science Learned

The lemon and the potato act like a low-power battery. This experiment shows how a wet cell battery works. Chemicals in the fruit or vegetable create a negative charge in the zinc strip. Electrons move into the zinc strip and travel up the wire attached. The electrons then travel through the voltmeter which measures the voltage drop and end up in the copper strip which becomes the positive end of the circuit. Pardon the pun, but from this experiment we can say that it is possible to "produce electricity".

Oberlin College: Demonstration of lemon battery powering a buzzer .

U.S. Dept. of Energy: Calculating Lemon Battery Power Q&A

• About the author
• Back to Experiment

Please select the social network you want to share this page with:

We like you too :)

Thanks for taking time to give us feedback!

• Energy & Electricity experiments
• science experiments for kids
• lemon and potato battery experiment
• lemon battery experiment
• fruit battery
• potato battery experiment/a>
• vegetable battery

posted by Admin

• previous experiment
• next experiment

How to Make a Simple Battery

in Energy and Electricity Experiments

Make a simple battery using coins and other common items.

Solar Energy Experiment for Kids

Teach kids how light is used to generate electricity in this solar energy experiment.

Beginner Electronics Experiment For Kids

This experiment is a good starting point for kids to begin learning about electronics.

LED Solar Circuit Experiment

Learn how to make an electrical circuit to power an LED using solar power.

How to Make an Electromagnet

Test the relationship between electricity and magnetism by making an electromagnet.

Power a Light with Static Electricity

Use static electricity to power a light bulb!

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

• LISTEN & FOLLOW
• Apple Podcasts
• Amazon Music
• Amazon Alexa

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Want to see a cool trick? Make a tiny battery with these 3 household items

Emily Kwong

Rebecca Ramirez

Madeline K. Sofia

Electrical circuit can be created with lemons to power a small light source. A chemical reaction between the copper and zinc plates and the citric acid produces a small current, thus powering a light bulb. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images hide caption

Electrical circuit can be created with lemons to power a small light source. A chemical reaction between the copper and zinc plates and the citric acid produces a small current, thus powering a light bulb.

We're going "Back to School" today, revisiting a classic at-home experiment that turns lemons into batteries — powerful enough to turn on a clock or a small lightbulb. But how does the science driving the "lemon battery" show up in those household batteries we use daily?

We get into just that today with environmental engineer Jenelle Fortunato about the fundamentals of electric currents and the inner workings of batteries.

You can build your very own lemon battery using Science U's design here , written by Fortunato and Christopher Gorski of Penn State College of Engineering.

A reminder: Do NOT play with household batteries. Be safe out there, scientists!

Want us to cover more science basics? Email us your ideas at [email protected] — we might feature them on a future episode!

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave .

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify , Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts .

This episode was originally produced by Rebecca Ramirez and edited by Viet Le. The encore version was produced and edited by Rebecca Ramirez.

• lemon battery
• STEM education
• electric currents

• Skip to main content

Why Settle? Get EVERYTHING you need for reading and math .

• All-Access Login
• Freebie Library
• Search this website

Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Fruit Battery Science Experiment

Fruit and batteries definitely don’t seem to be a combination that goes together. Your students will love this science experiment that has them creating fruit batteries and testing which fruit works the best. Free printables, including a reading passage, are included to help you make the most of this science experiment.

Want to see more science activities and resources ?

Fruit Battery Science Experiment Materials Needed:

• various acidic or citrus fruit (we used apple, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, orange, and tomato)
• a small piece of copper (any copper material will do, even a copper-coated penny)
• a galvanized or zinc nail (any zinc material will do)
• a voltmeter or multimeter
• free printable tracking chart (at the end of this post)
• free passage and comprehension questions download (at the end of this post)

Fruit Battery Science Experiment Directions

1. Roll the fruit around on the counter to get the juices flowing.

2. Insert the piece of copper into the fruit.

3. Insert the nail into the fruit at least an inch away from the piece of copper. If you insert them at an angle, make sure that the pieces do not touch each other inside the fruit.

4. Turn on the voltmeter. If you are using a multimeter, make sure it is set to measure volts.

5. Touch the red wire to the copper and the black wire to the zinc. Firmly hold them still for a few seconds until the voltage stops on a number. Some meters come with alligator clips, so you could use those to clip the wires onto the copper and zinc.

6. Write down the voltage on your sheet and test the next fruit.

7. Analyze the data to determine which fruit had the highest voltage.

The Science Behind the Fruit Battery Science Experiment

Some fruits, especially citrus fruits like lemons and limes, are very acidic. The acid inside the fruit allows an electrical current to flow between the zinc and copper.

After the Experiment Reading Activity

Adding in reading and writing into a science experiment, activity, or demonstration allows you to enhance your students’ understanding and get more mileage from the activity.

For this activity, the students will read a short text that describes the science behind it (similar to what is explained above for the teacher’s reference). The students will use the details they learned in the text to explain what happened during the science experiment. They will also answer three comprehension questions using details from the text.

The questions your students will answer include:

• What makes up a voltaic battery?
• Why do lemons and limes have the ability to “run” or power an object?
• What activates an electrical current, and why is that important?

After reading the passage and answering the questions, you can invite your students to share their responses and have a classroom discussion about electrical currents.

How Can I Get the Free Printable?

Click here or on the image below to download the fruit battery science experiment printable pack .

If you want more resources and even freebies for science , click here to check out my other posts, such as apple oxidation, erosion with grass, dissolving Peeps, gingerbread cookies and candy hearts, creating avalanches and frost, states of matter with chocolate, experiments with growing plants and flowers (including a seed race), and much more.

Shop This Post

Science Centers with Reading Passages

Free Science Activities to Start the Year

4th and 5th Grade Science Resources

Share the knowledge, reader interactions.

May 13, 2022 at 6:24 am

Do you have a link to a voltmeter?

April 24, 2023 at 5:53 am

Am a parent and I have a child who asked me to help on choosing a good science project, so am searching for the best project please help me choose the right one. thanks

September 25, 2023 at 10:52 am

this is good

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

You may also love these freebies!

Math Posters

Reading Posters

Morphology Posters

Grammar Posters

Welcome Friends!

I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students.

Choose an Account to Log In

Notifications

Science project, how to make a lemon battery.

Has your flashlight ever stopped working because the batteries were dead?  It’s no fun walking around in complete darkness. Batteries are everywhere—in our toys, in our cars, in our flashlights and cell phones. But how do they work? What makes them stop working? You can learn how to make a lemon battery to learn more about these very important devices.

How does a battery work?

• A lemon, or other citrus fruit
• 18 (or smaller) gauge copper wire
• Wire stripper/clipper
• A grown-up or older friend
• Steel paper clip, small galvanized nail (one that is covered in zinc), or a piece of zinc (ideal)
• Ask your grown-up to use the wire strippers to first strip about 2 1/2 inches of plastic insulation off the copper wire. Then, request that the grown-up clip that piece of stripped wire off of the main roll.
• Carefully straighten the steel paper clip. Use the wire clippers to cut it to the same length as your copper wire. 
• Use the sandpaper to rub out any rough spots in your wire or paperclip. You are going to be touching the wire ends to your tongue, so you want them to be smooth. If you are using the zinc covered nail or piece, scratch it lightly with the sand paper to expose a fresh surface.
• Roll the lemon gently on a table to break the cell walls and loosen up the juice inside. The sour juice is needed for the chemical reaction that you are about to start. The fact that the juice is sour should give us some hints about what kind of chemicals make up lemon juice. What do you think the sour flavor might tell us?
• Carefully stick the copper wire about 1 inch into the lemon.
• Make sure your tongue is moist with saliva , or spit. Touch your tongue to the copper wire. Do you notice anything? 
• Stick the paperclip, zinc covered nail or zinc strip into a spot in the lemon about 1/4 inch away from the copper wire. Make sure the wires don’t touch. The wires need to be close to each other because they will be swapping matter in the chemical reaction. If they are too far apart, the matter might lose their way.

• This time, touch your moistened tongue to both wire ends. What do you notice?

When you touched your tongue to just the copper wire, you most likely would not have noticed anything unusual. When you touched your tongue to BOTH of the metal ends, you might have felt a tingle, or noticed a metallic taste. 

The tingle or metal taste you noticed shows that your lemon battery was generating an electric current . That means tiny electrons were moving across the surface of your tongue. Electrons are subatomic particles that zoom around an atom’s center and make up the part of the atom that is negatively charged.

The lemon battery you made is a type of battery called a voltaic battery . These types of batteries are made of two different metals, which act as electrodes , or places where electrons can enter or leave a battery. In your case, the electrical current entered your tongue, which is why you felt a tingle.

So why were we able to stick electrodes into a lemon and get a battery? All voltaic batteries need their metals to be placed in an electrolyte . An electrolyte is a substance that can carry electrical current when dissolved in water. The tiny bit of salt in your saliva makes your saliva an electrolyte, and the sour citric acid does the same thing for lemon juice. Batteries stop working when there is not enough of the electrolyte to react with the metal or not enough metal left to react with the electrolyte.

Going Further

You can generate more electrical current by connecting multiple lemon batteries. Just make a second battery and connect the zinc or steel piece of one battery with the copper wire of the other battery using another piece of copper wire to act as a bridge.

You can use your enlarged lemon battery to power a low-power device like a digital watch or calculator. Remove the regular battery from the digital watch or calculator.  Then, hook up the copper electrode of your lemon battery with battery slot’s positive contact. Connect the zinc or iron electrode with the negative contact. Can you get the device to work?  

If you are looking to test a variable, try making batteries using different fruits and vegetables. Which ones produce the biggest tingle on your tongue? Which ones generate the most electric current?

Related learning resources

Add to collection, create new collection, new collection, new collection>, sign up to start collecting.

Bookmark this to easily find it later. Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan.

Fun Lemon Battery Science Fair Experiment for Kids

Please enable JavaScript

We all heard of making lemonade out of lemons and that when things go wrong, if you know to Think in The Right Way then you can make something good come out of a sour situation. But how can you make a BATTERY out of Lemons?!

Most of us know what Lemons look like; A Lemon is a yellow, oval, thick skinned and fragrant citrus fruit said to originate from India and is commonly grown in the Middle East .

Lemons are a good source of Vitamin C, which is important to boost our immune system in order to fight sickness. Lemons are used in aromatherapy, but they are not just healthy for you, they are also used for culinary purposes; lemon juice, lemon cakes, lemon cookies, a tarty lemon pie, lemon ice cream and in food preparations like Tahini, Hummus, salads and many other dishes in many countries around the world.

Lemons can also provide a lot of fun for your kids, even if they hate drinking lemon juice. One of the interesting things you can do with your kids and a few lemons, is a fun lemon battery science fair experiment ! It is an easy, low cost and fun educational activity to do at home or at school. Try this fun lemon science experiment with your kids to teach kids about electrical circuits!

How to Make a Battery from Lemons

What you need for the Lemon Battery Science Fair Experiment:

TIP: The power from one single lemon will not be strong enough to light a bulb or be used as a battery. You will need to connect several lemons together with metal wires for enough power or electricity to light a bulb from a lemon battery. Minimum two lemons will create a battery but 3 are better. See what happens if you add more lemons. What will the volt meter show? How strong will the bulb glow?

Fun Facts about Lemons

Lemon battery science fair experiment video for kids.

• DIY lists /

4 Shockingly Simple Battery Experiments

How many pumpkins would it take to power a lightbulb? We don't know, but we want you to find out! These simple experiments make great elementary science projects, and are a fun way to teach your child the basics of conductivity and electricity. Turn two pumpkins into a low voltage battery, measure the conductivity of a lemon, use graphite and paper to create a closed circuit, or power a timer with a stack of pennies! 

(Ages 9-16 )

Learn about electrochemical cells and make a battery using pennies, felt, and a salt water solution. Then, power a digital clock with it!

Can you complete an LED circuit using a graphite pencil? Learn about the conductive properties of graphite and draw your own design to see it light up! This is a super quick and easy science experiment that is entertaining for both kids and adults alike.

Discover even more about the power of electricity and light with Levitating Lantern from the KiwiCo Store ! Build a lantern that floats above its base with the help of tension and rubber bands!

(Ages 5-16 )

Harness the power of pumpkins with a pumpkin battery and see how many volts it can produce! 

Learn how to make a pumpkin battery!

(Ages 5-11 )

The potato battery is a classic but did you know that you can also make a battery out of a penny and lemon? In fact, there are a bunch of household items that can be made into batteries! In this project, we test a penny and lemon to see how many volts it can produce!

Activity: Build-a-Battery Workshop: From Nature to Battery

We don’t normally think of batteries as being natural , but the parts that make them originally got their start in nature! In this activity you will build a battery using potatoes, lemons, and metal nails. It’s easier to recognize these items as coming from nature. Potatoes and lemons are harvested from plants. Metals come from rocks, called ores, that are mined from the ground. Follow the instructions in this activity to turn items, that originally came from plants and rocks, into a battery!

Questions to Investigate

• Can you build a battery out of potatoes that is powerful enough light a small LED bulb, sound a buzzer or spin a propellor on a tiny motor?

Safety Requirements

• The ends of nails are sharp. Be careful when pushing nails into potatoes or lemons.
•  Do not eat the potatoes or lemons after experimenting with them. 
• 10 copper roofing nails or pennies
• 10 galvanized (zinc-plated or hot dip) nails
• 10 aluminum nails
• 11 wires with alligator clips on both ends
• 10 potatoes
• Digital voltmeter
• Small light emitting diode (LED), 5 mm bulb, any color (2.0V - 2.8V)
• Small buzzer (1.5V or 3V)
• Motor with a propellor (1.5V or 3V)

Note: You will reuse the three potatoes tested in Part 1 in Part 3.

Part 1: Find the voltage made by different pairs of electrodes in a potato

• Push the nail that will be the “first electrode” into a potato. Position the nail that will become the “second electrode” 2 to 2½ inches (45-50 mm) away from the first nail and push it into the same potato.
• Make sure the nails do not touch.

• Get help from someone with experience using a digital voltmeter. Turn the dial to measure volts. Then, at the same time, touch each electrode with either the red or black probe. The voltage readout should be positive, so if there is a “-” sign switch which probe touches which electrode.  
• Write the voltage reading from the voltmeter (only the positive number or number without a “-” sign) in the chart above.
• Continue this process until you have measured the voltage for all three pairs of electrodes each in their own potato.
• Mark this pair in the chart above so that you remember which metals became the best electrodes when inserted into a potato.

Part 2: Find the voltage made by different pairs of electrodes in a lemon

• Remember that the voltage readout should be positive. If there is a “-” sign switch which probe touches which electrode.  Then write this positive number in the chart below. 

• Which pair of electrodes produced the highest voltage? Mark this pair in your chart. 

Part 3: Connect potatoes by their electrodes

• For example, if the zinc and copper nails where the best electrodes, you would write Zn in the chart for one of the electrodes and Cu in the chart as the other electrode.
• Because you will use the same electrodes in the same way for all 10 potatoes, write the abbreviation for each metal down the entire column.  
• Using the same process you used for the potatoes in Part 1, insert pairs of electrodes into each of 10 potatoes.  
• Remember that the voltage readout should be positive. If there is a “-” sign switch which probe touches which electrode.  Then write this positive number in the chart on page 5.
•  Attach two separate wires with alligator clips as shown. Then attach the free alligator clips to a small LED bulb, buzzer or motor with propellor. Answer the question in the chart about whether the device you used worked. 

Two potatoes

• Use another wire with alligator clips on both ends to connect a second potato to the series, as shown in the diagram.

• Write the voltage in the chart in the row for two potatoes.  
• Use an up arrow (↑) to indicate whether it’s brighter, louder, or faster.
• Use a down arrow (↓) to indicate whether the device seems to be dimmer, quieter, or slower.
• Use the approximately equal to sign (≈) to indicate whether the device is acting about the same. 

Three potatoes

• Use another wire with alligator clips on both ends to connect a third potato to the series, as shown in the diagram.

• Check the voltage produced by three potatoes and their electrodes with a digital voltmeter.
• Connect either an LED bulb, buzzer or motor with propellor. Then answer the question in the final column of the chart. 

More potatoes

• Continue adding one potato at a time to your series, testing, and recording your observations in the chart until you have connected and tested a series that is ten potatoes-with-electrodes long. Are you seeing a trend? 

How does it work?

Batteries, including the one you made in this activity, have the same key parts—two electrodes and an electrolyte. In this activity, the metal nails are the electrodes, and the electrolyte is either the inside of a lemon or a potato.

• Electrodes must be made of different metals. As you discovered, certain pairs of metals work better than others.
• Potatoes make good electrolytes because they have salts inside of them. Lemons are good electrolytes because they have a combination of different acids, including citric acid and ascorbic acid (a.k.a. Vitamin C) inside of them.

Electrolytes do two things within a battery. The first is that they block the flow of electrons between the two electrodes inside the battery. The electrons made at the zinc nail cannot get to the copper nail by going through the potato. Instead the electrons must move from the zinc nail, through the wire, into one part of the bulb, buzzer, or tiny motor, out another part of the device, through another wire, and to the copper nail. This pathway is why we can use electricity power our flashlights and phones. 

The second role of an electrolyte is to chemically react with the electrodes to so that there are electrons that need to move. The salts in the potato and acids in the lemon reacted with the zinc electrode freeing up electrons. Once the electrons traveled through the bulb, buzzer, or motor, and returned to the copper electrode, they were transferred to the electrolyte around it which reacted to release a small amount of hydrogen gas. These reactions, set up the situation for electrons to move and electricity to flow.

It is possible, although not exactly practical, to make a battery out of potatoes or lemons, and copper and zinc nails. How many potatoes, nails, and alligator clips do you think it would take to make a flashlight bright enough to take camping? Whatever the number, it would certainly be more than could fit inside these devices at the size they are now. Could you imagine lifting a flashlight made of ten potatoes-with-electrodes and wires? Fortunately for us, scientists have figured out how to make batteries that are small, efficient, and light enough to carry. Better yet, scientists continue to work to make batteries that are even more convenient, are safer for people, animals, and the environment, and work better than those that you use every day. 

References:

• CCEW 2024 Theme Team Member, Dr. Veronica Jaramillo, Dean of the Department of Natural Sciences and Chemistry Professor at Pasadena City College
• Activity based on How to Create a Potato Battery from wikiHow

In this issue

About the Cover Get a Charge out of Chemistry Batteries Save the Sun’s Energy! The Anatomy of a Battery Science Safety Tips Activity: Build-A- Battery Workshop! The Car Race Game Recycle That Battery! Activity: On the Hunt … for Batteries! Meg A. Mole Interview with Mr. Jeff Michalski Are Batteries Battering the Environment? Activity: Build-a-Battery Workshop: From Nature to Battery Activity: Build-a-Battery Workshop: Explore Electrolytes Words to Know

Accept & Close The ACS takes your privacy seriously as it relates to cookies. We use cookies to remember users, better understand ways to serve them, improve our value proposition, and optimize their experience. Learn more about managing your cookies at Cookies Policy .

1155 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA |  service@acs.org  | 1-800-333-9511 (US and Canada) | 614-447-3776 (outside North America)

• Terms of Use
• Accessibility

Copyright © 2024 American Chemical Society