How to Make a Battery Out of a Lemon

Making a battery using connecting wires

By using a simple metal object such as a paper clip or steel-coated nail along with a copper penny and wires, you can make your own lemon battery. The reaction between the lemon and the copper is different than the reaction between the lemon and steel. One reaction will be stronger than the other and will make electrons flow through the lemons. Those electrons can be harnessed through copper wire and used to power small items.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• 2-4 Lemons
• 2-4 Galvanized nails or metal paper clips
• 2-4 Copper pennies
• 2-4 6-inch copper wire or metal connecting wires

Instructions

1. Squeeze the lemon or roll it on a table using a little pressure to loosen the insides. The juicier the lemon, the better chance of success.

2. Cut two small slits about an inch apart in the lemon rind.

3. Place the penny into one of the slits in the lemon and the paper clip or nail into the other. Push them about halfway into the lemon so that they touch the juicy area, but are still sticking up above the rind.

4. One basic battery is now complete. This small battery will not carry very much of a charge, most likely less than one volt. In order to carry enough charge to light a bulb or run a digital clock, you must string together several of these minibatteries. Set up more batteries in the same manner as above. Two lemons should provide enough charge to power a small digital clock, while it may take four or more to light a Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulb.

5. Connect the batteries by stringing copper wire between the lemons. Wind one end of a piece around one of the paperclips or nails, and the other end around one of the pennies. You can also clip metal connecting wires onto the items, which makes this step a bit easier. Do not create a complete circle with the lemons, but rather, leave a loose wire at each end, one connected to a penny and one to a paper clip or nail.

6. Connect a device to the lemon batteries by touching the paper clip or nail loose end to the negative side of the device and the penny loose end to the positive side.

Tips & Warnings

• Find real copper pennies. Pennies produced before 1982 had a higher concentration of copper and should produce the best charge.

• Be sure to ask a parent for help with this project, since it involves knives and sharp wires.

References

• Lemon Battery
• Lemon Battery