What Is the Lemon Battery Hypothesis?
The lemon battery hypothesis states that a lemon is acidic enough to carry an electric charge and act as a battery. To demonstrate that a lemon can carry an electric charge, it is necessary to perform an experiment.
To test the lemon battery hypothesis, students can follow these steps.
- Gather the right supplies
- Prepare the lemon
- Put the strips into the lemon and attach them to the voltmeter
For this experiment, the student needs a lemon, a strip of copper, a strip of zinc, a voltmeter, two cables with alligator clips, and a thermometer with an LCD display or a clock with an LCD display.
For the lemon juices to carry a charge, the acids need to distribute evenly. Prepare the lemon by rolling it on a table so it is slightly flatter.
Place the zinc strip and the copper strip into the lemon. Attach the alligator clips to them and connect to the voltmeter. It should give off a slight reading, which is usually 1 volt.
Although the lemon is not strong enough to light a light bulb, its slight charge does demonstrate that it can act as a battery. It is able to do this because its acids have a slight electric current.
