The lemon battery is one of the standard experiments mentioned in science textbooks. The lemon battery is similar to an electrical battery invented in 1800 by Alessandro Volta. Alessandro Volta invented an electrical battery by using brine instead of lemon juice. The lemon battery illustrates the type of chemical reaction (redox reaction) that occurs in batteries. In these electrodes are zinc and copper, and the electrolyte is the juice inside the lemon. The lemon cell has many variations that use different fruits as electrolytes and metals other than zinc and copper as electrodes. These lemon batteries cannot run a motor or power up light bulbs like batteries, but they can produce a dim glow in LEDs. We can make a simple lemon battery by following simple steps. After it gets ready, take the free ends and stick them to our tongue. When both ends of the conductors touch your tongue, it tingles slightly. This happens because a small amount of current is generated in the lemon. It feels like the electrons moving through your tongue. Electrons revolve around the centre of an atom and make up the portion that holds the negative charge. The salt in your saliva makes it a conductor, and the citric acid in the sour lemon juice makes electricity easy to flow. The lemon battery is also termed a voltaic battery.
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Important Questions with Answers
1. What is the science behind a lemon battery?
A lemon battery consists of two metals, i.e. copper and zinc, suspended in an acidic solution. Copper and zinc work well as metals for the battery, and the citric acid in the lemon acts as an acidic solution or electrolyte. The lemon juice works as an electrolyte in the lemon battery. Just like regular batteries, the lemon battery contains citric acid. Acid attacks the zinc atoms, and some change into positively charged ions means charged particles with an unequal number of electrons or protons. An electric current is created in between the two metals, i.e. copper and zinc.
2. What things are needed for a lemon battery to produce electricity?
To make a multi-cell lemon battery, the things required are copper wire of 18 gauge or lesser copper wire, four galvanised nails, lemons, a zinc piece, a small nail, steel clips as an electrical conductor, a ruler, and a voltmeter.
3. What is the conclusion of the lemon battery?
The conclusion of the lemon battery experiment is: By using acidic fruits, we can demonstrate the transformation of a chemical reaction into an electrical reaction. Using the lemon, Cu, and Zn Plates, we can observe oxidation and reduction (i.e. redox reaction) reactions, which means redox. That’s why this battery is also known as a voltaic battery. A voltaic battery converts chemical energy to electric energy, and a lemon battery should be successful and strong enough to handle power-based appliances.
4. Is lemon a conductor or insulator?
Lemon is a citrus fruit that contains a significant amount of citric acid. This acid produces H+ ions, and we know that the motion of ions (charged species) causes current to flow. Because of the presence of H+ ions, lemon juice is a good conductor of electricity.
5. How does citric acid produce electricity?
Citric acid does not have electricity by itself. Instead, this weak acid turns into an electrolyte (an electrically conductive substance) when it’s dissolved in the fluid. The electrolyte’s charged ions allow electricity to pass through the liquid.
6. What happens in a lemon battery?
Electrons are the particles that revolve around the centre of an electron and are responsible for its negative charge. When both ends of the conductors touch the person’s tongue, they feel a slight tingle, indicating that the lemon has generated a small amount of current. The electrons passing through a person’s tongue have been experienced. This battery is also known as a voltaic battery. Lemon batteries are made of two metals that function as electrodes or electron transfer points. The salt in a person’s saliva acts as a conductor, and the citric acid in the sour lemon juice facilitates the flow of electricity.
7. Write the advantages of lemon batteries.
The advantages of a lemon battery are that it could be a renewable resource and a source of energy that does not pollute our environment and is biodegradable. We can easily measure the conductivity of a lemon or any citric fruit using a voltmeter, zinc, and conductive material.
8. What is the hypothesis of a lemon battery?
The citric acid in the fruit can be used as a weak battery because the acid produces a weak chemical reaction where metal atoms give up electrons, which flow through the battery wires. Batteries have an acid and alkali side, so the acid makes the batteries work.
9. What are the properties of an electrical conductor?
In equilibrium condition, a conductor exhibits the following properties:
- A conductor always allows electrons and ions to pass through it.
- Inside a conductor, the electric field is zero, which allows electrons to flow within them.
- Inside a conductor, the charge density is zero.
- Free charges exist only on the conductor’s surface.
- All conductor points have the same potential.
10. Give some examples of conductors of electricity.
Examples of conductors of electricity are:
Copper, Aluminium, Silver, Gold, Graphite, Platinum, Water, Human Body, Iron, etc.
Practice Questions
1. How do you do the lemon battery experiment?
2 Who invented the lemon battery?
- Alessandro Volta
- Sir Issac Newton
- Georg Ohm
- Andre Marie Ampere
3. What is an electric cell?
4. What is an electric conductor?
5. Which fruit cell produces the most electricity?
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