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Home » Science Experiments for Kids » How many lemons does it take to light a bulb?

How many lemons does it take to light a bulb?

Modified: Mar 17, 2022 · Published: May 17, 2021 by Emma Vanstone · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

The answer is more than I had! We managed to light an LED with two lemons and could see between 2 and 3 volts from the lemon batteries on a voltmeter, but the current passing through was very small. Even with 6 lemons we couldn’t light a small screw lightbulb.

Turn a lemon into a battery

Did you know you can turn a lemon into a battery? The acidic juice in a lemon can produce enough power when combined with zinc and copper to light an LED but we couldn’t get it to do much more than that.

Lemon Battery circuits.

How to make a lemon battery

You’ll need:

2-3 lemons

Knife

Copper and silver coins (or a galvanised nail)

3 wires with crocodile clips attached

Voltmeter ( optional )

Small LEDs

Lemon Battery Instructions

Roll the lemons between your hands to help loosen up the juice inside.

Carefully make two slits in each lemon with a knife ( ask an adult to help ).

Place a copper coin and either a silver coin or a galvanised nail into each lemon.

Attach the lemons to each other using wires and crocodile clips. The copper of one lemon should attach to the zinc of another lemon to work.

If you have an LED, 2 lemons should be enough to light it. You can also use a voltmeter/multimeter to measure the voltage passing through.

lemon battery circuit with an LED
Lemon battery circuit
lemon battery with a copper coin and zinc nail
Lemon battery made with a copper coin and zinc nail
Lemon battery lighting an LED, great way to find out how to make a lemon battery
Lemon battery creating enough power to light an LED

How does a lemon battery work

A standard battery is made up of an anode, cathode and electrolyte solution.

Anode – this is the negative end and is the zinc nail or coin in our lemon battery

Cathode – this is the positive end and is the copper coin or strip in our battery.

Electrolyte solution – this is an acidic solution and is the lemon juice in our lemon battery

When a battery becomes part of an electric circuit a chemical reaction at the anode generates electrons ( negatively charged particles ) which want to travel to the cathode ( positive end of the battery ) but cannot travel through the electrolyte solution. Instead the electrons travel around the circuit to reach the cathode. It’s a longer route, but this flow of electrons is what we call electric current.

A battery acts like a pump, pushing the electric charge around the circuit. We call this force voltage. The higher the voltage the more current flows.

What is electricity?

Electricity is the flow of charged particles.

An electric current is the flow of electrons around a circuit.

Extra Challenges – lemon battery

Try a potato battery

Try using potatoes instead of lemons to make a potato battery.

Potato Battery circuits
Potato Battery

Experiment with different coins, which combinations work?

Try other fruits and vegetables, can you predict which will work?

Don’t forget to check out my other electricity experiments too!

Lemon Batteries used to light an LED, find out how to make a lemon battery with this easy electronics activity for kids
Lemon Battery

Last Updated on March 17, 2022 by Emma Vanstone

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Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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