Science. The frontier of all technology. From Tesla coils to Apple Watch, the fruits of Science are both profound and completely bizarre at times. But that doesn’t stop us, and why should it? Science is fun. REALLY FUN. Especially when it involves creating your own power source from a lemon battery.
Now don’t get too excited – this isn’t the answer to renewable energy for all. But it certainly is an enjoyable novelty for kids and those of us stuck in the mind space of a kid (ahem).
So here it is, a step-by-step instructional guide on how to create your own lemon battery!
Materials you’ll need to make your lemon battery:
- 3 Large Lemons
- 3 Copper Nails
- 3 Galvanized Nail
- 4 Copper Wires (with alligator clips if you can)
- Permanent marker
- Small Light Bulb such as an LED
Method
- Roll that lemon. Roll it good. Release all the juice and pulp inside the lemon by giving it a good squish. This will allow you to draw maximum power from your lemons.
- Push a copper nail into each lemon, about 1/3rd from the end.
- On the other side of the lemon, push a galvanised nail in the same distance.
Your copper nail acts as a negative terminal, your galvanized nail acts as a positive terminal. - Now use your copper wires and clips to connect the lemons. The galvanised nail on the first lemon should connect to the copper nail on the second lemon and so on. You’ll be left with one remaining copper nail on 1 lemon, and one remaining galvanised nail on another lemon.
- Now use a permanent marker to write a + sign on the lemon with the remaining copper nail, and a – sign on the lemon with the remaining galvanised nail.
- Now, connect the positive terminal of your lemon battery, to the negative terminal of your LED and the negative terminal of your lemon battery to the positive terminal of your LED.
- YOU DID IT. You lit an LED with some lemons!
What you’ve made here is a series connection of lemons. Every lemon adds more power to your battery. You could connect 100 lemons and you’d have a pretty strong battery! But it doesn’t last long, eventually the LED will fade out, and you’ll need some fresh lemons.
Now it might not be the most cost effective way to light your home with the cost of all those lemons, but it goes to show that the tools we need to create energy are right here in front of us. Luckily for us, there’s a dedicated team of scientists working on smarter, more efficient ways to produce renewable energy. Read more about that here.
And if you’re just looking for a cost-effective way to power your home or business – well… you’ve come to the right place! Because at Bulk Energy, it’s not only our job – it’s our duty to provide more affordable energy rates to Aussies. That’s why we’ve started a movement. And you can join it right here.
