How to Make a Light Bulb Experiment

Oranges For Powering an LED

Conducting science experiments at home is an excellent way to learn how scientific principles work. One of the most educational experiments is to power an LED light bulb using an orange and a couple of nails. The acid found in an orange contains ions which then react to the nails that are inserted into it. Each nail is made from a different material, causing a positive and negative charge. When these charges are brought together, the produce enough electricity to light an LED light bulb.

Things You'll Need

• 1 Orange
• 1 Zinc Nail
• 1 Copper Nail
• Copper Wire
• 1 Small Led Light Bulb

Instructions

1. 

   Select an orange that is slightly soft. This will allow the juices to flow throughout the orange. The acidity found in the orange's juice will help create ions to charge the LED bulb.

2. 

   Insert the zinc nail and the copper nail into the orange. The nails should be placed opposite of each other and should not touch. Push the nails halfway into the orange. Do not allow the nails to puncture through the other end of the orange.

3. 

   Attach a small length of copper wire to the head of the zinc nail. The wire should be long enough to reach from the zinc nail to the middle of the orange.

4. Attach a small length of copper wire to the head of the copper nail. The wire should be equal in length to the wire attached to the zinc nail.

5. Wrap the ends of the copper wires that are connected to the zinc and copper nails around the LED light bulb. The bulb will light up.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with different fruits to observe which fruits light the best.