Attributes of the Lemon Battery
Creating a battery from a lemon is a popular example used in many junior science textbooks to discuss and demonstrate how batteries work. Batteries have two different metals in an acidic solution and in the same way the lemon battery works by inserting two different metals to act as positive and negative electrodes (usually copper and zinc, respectively) into a lemon, which acts as the acidic solution. The demonstration usually consists of a common galvanized nail, a penny and a fresh lemon.
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Source of Electricity
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The electricity in the lemon battery does not actually come from the lemon itself. It comes from a chemical change, called oxidation, that occurs in the zinc nail. Oxidation, in this case, means the zinc nail loses some of its electrons which provides the actual electric power for the battery. The lemon is simply the environment where the oxidation reaction can occur and it is not used up in the process.
Output
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Using zinc and copper as the electrodes, a lemon is measured to generate approximately 0.9 volts and about 0.0003 amps. As a comparison, it would take about 5,000 lemon batteries to produce enough wattage to power a 2.4-volt standard flashlight bulb and about 37,000 lemon batteries to power a 12-volt halogen bulb. You can add more lemons (battery cells) to produce more power by connecting the electrodes of one lemon battery to another with an electric wire.
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Possible Variations
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Lemons are the preferred electrolytic medium in this demonstration because of their high acidic content, however you can substitute other fruits and vegetables if necessary. Apples, potatoes or any other acidic vegetable or fruit is sufficient. Also, using a less available metal electrode, such as a magnesium strip, instead of zinc, can increase the voltage produced substantially. Due to the safety and easy access of zinc and copper, however, the penny and nail combination usually gets preference.
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References
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