How to Make a Lemon Powered Clock

CCL- Lori Greig

It's the ultimate in greener living--powering your home with citrus fruit! Of course, the world's not quite ready for a lemon-powered household, but it is possible to make a lemon powered clock. It's as simple as making a citrus cell battery and hooking it to a small LCD clock. It not only works, but also give you quite a conversation piece.

Things You'll Need

• cardboard/thin strips of balsa wood
• 3 lemons
• Metal paper clips
• 3 zinc-plated nails
• 4 1-foot lengths of thin copper wire
• Aluminum foil
• Tape
• Button-battery-powered LCD clock

Instructions

1. Size your cardboard or balsa strips to 1 inch by 4 inch strips. It doesn't really matter which material you use, as long as it's sturdy enough to withstand a little pressure, but yet thin and flexible enough for paper clips and wire to attach to it. Cover each strip with aluminum foil and attach a large paper clip to the top of each tin-foil covered strip.

2. Squeeze and roll the lemons (you should have three of them) in your hand to crush the pulp and release the juice inside the peel.

3. Use a knife to make a small cut in each lemon. Insert an aluminum-covered strip in each of the cuts, making sure that about half of the strip is inside the lemon and half sticking out.

4. Insert a zinc-plated nail next to the aluminum strip in each lemon. The two metals should be close together, but not touching. If you have trouble getting the nail in the lemon rind, make another small slit with the knife and then put the nail inside. Just be careful that it doesn't fall completely into the lemon.

5. Place your lemons in row. The first lemon is LA, the middle lemon is LB and the last lemon is LC. Securely attach one end of one of the copper wires to the paper clip on the strip in LA. Attach the other end of the wire to the zinc-plated nail in LB.

6. Attach one end of a second copper wire to the aluminium strip in LB and the other end to the zinc-plated nail in LC. Next, attach a third copper wire to the aluminum strip in LC. Leave the other end unattached.

7. Attach the last copper wire to the zinc-plated nail in LA.

8. Locate the positive terminal on your clock and tape the end of the wire attached to the nail in LA to it. Attach the free end of the wire from LC to the negative terminal in the same manner.

9. Wait while the acid in the lemon creates an electrical current and makes the clock run.

Tips & Warnings

• Check the connections if the clock doesn't run. If the wire on LA and LC that connect to the clock are both connected to the same metal in the lemons, it won't work. You must make sure the circuit is wired correctly.

• A lemon-powered clock can run for as long as two weeks, at which time you can merely replace the fruit.

• Try using different citrus fruits to see how they work. It's the acid that makes the battery work.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish