How to Make a Lemon Powered Light Bulb

A lemon powered light bulb is a great science project or even a great green solution for camping or power outages. Lemons are able to power many small electronic devices including light bulbs. The acid in the lemon causes a chemical reaction with the two metals inserted into the lemon, resulting in an electrical current. The following article outlines the process of powering a light bulb with a lemon. Please make note of the photo for wire placements.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two lemons
• Stiff copper wire
• Large Steel Paper clips
• Thin copper wire
• Light bulb (small, like a flashlight bulb)

1. Take the two lemons and roll them on a table, applying pressure with the palm of your hand. This will cause the juices to release from the pulp so you can get a good “battery” for your light bulb. Make sure they get good and soft without breaking the peals.

2. Take the stiff copper wire and cut two lengths, several inches long. Press one of the wires into each of the lemons. The stiff copper wire is represented by the red lines in the diagram.

3. Unfold the large steel paper clips. Press one into each of the lemons. These are represented by the gray lines in the diagram.

4. Using the thin copper wire, connect the copper post in the first lemon to the steel post in the second lemon. Then connect the remaining 2 posts to the light bulb as shown in the diagram.

Tips & Warnings

• A common switch can be inserted in the circuit so that you can turn your lemon powered light bulb on and off.
• With a handful of lemons and some super bright LED’s you can create some really useful lemon powered light bulbs that will last for a shocking amount of time.

[amylaine]

on 10/16/2009 What a neat experiment. Very cool

[melissalewis]

on 7/10/2009 How cool is that? Fun 5* article!

[tracysmith159]

on 7/5/2009 I didn't know you could use lemons. I knew about potatoes, I'll have to try this with the kids. They will love it.