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Sent in by:
Kendra of MO
This clock is citrus-powered!
- 2 lemons
- 3 copper wires
- 2 large paper clips
- 2 pennies
- a digital clock
- scissors
- knife
- Check with a grown-up before you begin.
- First, attach one of the paperclips to a wire.
- Then attach a penny to a second wire.
- Attach another penny to one end of the third wire, and a paperclip to the other end.
- Squeeze and roll two lemons to loosen the pulp inside.
- Make two small cuts in the skins of both lemons an inch or so apart.
- Put the paper clip that is attached to the wire and the penny into one of the cuts until you get to the juicy part of the lemon.
- Stick the penny into a hole in the other lemon.
- Put the other paper clip into the second hole of the lemon with the penny.
- Then put the last penny into the last open hole.
- Connect the free ends of the wires to the terminals of the digital clock.
- Watch how the lemons make enough electricity to turn the clock on. If you've hooked everything up and the clock isn't running, try switching the wires.
- Here's how this lemon battery works. There's a chemical reaction between the steel in the paper clip and the lemon juice. There's also a chemical reaction between the copper in the penny and the lemon juice. These two chemical reactions push electrons through the wires.
- Because the two metals are different, the electrons get pushed harder in one direction than the other. If the metals were the same, the push would be equal and no electrons would flow. The electrons flow in one direction around in a circle and then come back to the lemon battery. While they flow through the clock, they make it work. This flow is called electric current.
- This is hard to understand. So, if you need it explained to you again, be sure to talk to a parent or a teacher.
Now it's time to experiment. Do you think your lemon battery will still work if you change the lemons? Try cutting the lemons in half, or squeezing them and putting the wires in the lemon juice. Does your battery still work? Since lemon juice is an acid, think about how you can make batteries out of other acids, like orange juice or cola. Or see if your battery will work using a base, like soapy water. Choose one thing to change (that's the variable) and predict what you think will happen. Then test it and if you come up with some cool discoveries, send them to ZOOM.
Duaa, age 10 of Burbank, IL wrote:
I didnt try it but when im in 5th grade ill join my science fair and do this one! And I know whats gonna happen because today I went to the science fair and some one did I and got 2st place and when she showed us how to make the battery work we saw the light it was so so so cool!!!
Debbie of Columbia, MO wrote:
We didn't have any fruit, so we improvised. For each piece of fruit, we poured some lime juice into a small plastic medicine cup, and then stuffed the cup with part of a paper towel, which helped to hold our electrodes in place. We also substituted zinc-plated nails for the paper clips. We did everything else the same, inserting the nails into one side of the cups, held in place by the juice-soaked paper towel, and the pennies on the other side. It worked like a charm, except that the little cups kept wanting to fall over, so we ended up duct-taping them down onto a piece of wood.
Sarah, age 10 of Baltimore, MD wrote:
we tested 10 lemons iwth penniess and galvienized nails, it started to move but it only twitched.
Nirmala, age 13 of New York, NY wrote:
Me and my friends did the lemon battery for are 8th grade lexit project and it didn't work. We tried it with a potato but it still didn't work. I don't know why though.
Megan, age 9 of San Jose, CA wrote:
It didn't work!! My dad became frustrated and mad! I was a bit dissapointed too! Why wouldn't the lemon work! I think I did it right!
Aaron, age 12 of Denver, CO wrote:
When I tried it it didn't work. so when I read the rest of the paper it told me to switch them if it doesn't work so I switched them and... it didn't work.
Sonya, age 12 of Mt. Vernon, NY wrote:
When I did it, my lemon battery totally worked! It ran for 2 HOURS! I was in awe
Antoni, age 10 of North Mankato, MN wrote:
I have a question. What else can you use for the + and - electrodes?
Anna, age 12 of Sacramento, CA wrote:
I tried over 6 times, doing different things for each one. Each time I did it, my lemon battery failed.
Briana, age 13 of Huntington, WV wrote:
I didn't use a lemon... I used a potatoe for my science project. And since they are very basic, my clock did not work.
ZOOM Fan, age 13 of LA wrote:
We tried it and the lemon didn't work. So we tried a potatoe and that also didn't work. We let the lemon outside for a while and when it rotten it works better.
Jen, age 12 of Spring Valley, NY wrote:
wow I didnt do it yet but by the looks of you guys results there is a 50 50 percent chance
Kevin, age 10 of Urbana, OH wrote:
it worked awesomely! it was great! it powered our clock for 20 minutes, and my older sister and my younger brother were amazed!!!
Michael, age 8 of Staten Island, NY wrote:
nothing happened. we even tried it with lemon juice from a bottle but that didnt work either but we havent given up yet!
Ashley, age 9 of Sharon, MA wrote:
i have a qustion can you replace it with an orange
Mason, age 14 of Sparks, NV wrote:
it actually worked. When my girlfreind and I did this we were not so much tempted to do this project, but when we tested it it actually worked.
Mateo, age 9 of Fort Knox, KY wrote:
At first it didn't work but then I tryed it again and it WORKED!
Addy, age 10 of Oregon, OR wrote:
nothing happened. and yes every thing was correct
Kathrine of Salt Lake City, UT wrote:
First I tried it with lemons but it didn't work. Then I tried grapefruit it WORKED!
Alicia, age 10 of Detroit, MI wrote:
i did mine for a science project. practically everyone in my family helped. we couldnt get it to work.
Emma, age 10 of Goleta, CA wrote:
It worked. I tried it with lemons, limes. oranges, potatoes and tomatoes! It is so cool! No need o buy regular batteries, use organic ones!
Gabi, age 12 of Staten Island, NY wrote:
It didn't work for me. How did you guys get it to work? I even tried with 8 lemons and it still didn't work!
Dawn, age 12 of Barnwell, SC wrote:
I had to do mine for a science fair project and I used two lemons and two grapefruits. the reason why I used these things because I was trying to compare two unlike things and it worked.
Akhil, age 14 of Punjab, India wrote:
Lemon Battery really worked. It started mine clock. It also glow a small bulb. I love it. Mine teachers also liked it very much. It is fabulous.
Natalie, age 11 of Marysville, WA wrote:
Nothing happened and it didnt work! My partner and I made a lemon clock for a 6th grade science fair project and our teachers told us that it would work!! I dont understand why it didnt work!!!
Bishop, age 9 of Fort Gratiot, MI wrote:
When I tested my fruits, the apple was the best with 1. 00 V. The tomato and the lime came in second woth. 98 V each.
Robyn, age 10 of Hopewell Jct., NY wrote:
When I tried, the clock didn't work! I was so mad! But then, when I tried grapefruits, it worked! I also tried oranges, but those didn't work either.
Destiny, age 13 of San Jose, CA wrote:
it actually worked!!! WOW. it was really amazing
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