Lemon Battery Array
Wire lemons with zinc and copper electrodes in series to light a real LED from fruit.
Start building ↓The build
Prep the cells
Roll lemons, then insert one zinc nail and one copper coin into each (not touching).
Wire in series
Clip copper of one lemon to zinc of the next, chaining all four.
Attach the LED
Connect free copper to the LED's long leg, free zinc to the short.
Dim the room
A faint glow appears; add a lemon if needed.
Each lemon is a galvanic cell: zinc gives up electrons while copper hosts reduction, and the acidic juice carries ions to complete the circuit.
A closer look
One cell makes ~0.9 V; wiring cells in series adds their voltages until the LED's turn-on threshold is reached.
Variables to test
- 1 Compare lemons, potatoes and vinegar — which gives most voltage?
- 2 Measure voltage with 1–4 cells — is it linear?
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