Use 2 - Make a battery from a lemon


All you need for this experiment is a lemon, a penny, and strip of zinc. Make sure the zinc and the penny are clean by polishing them with a piece of sand paper. Squeeze the lemon without spliting the peel to release the juices inside. Cut a pair of slits in the top of the lemon about 1-2 cm apart. Insert the penny in one slit and the zinc in the other.

Touching the leads of a voltmeter to the penny and the zinc will show that a small voltage is produced.

WARNING: A small number of people die each year from testing batteries with their tongue so don't do it, but breaking open a battery with a pair of plyers is fine!!

Illustration: curtesy of Ladybird Junior Science Book, Magnets, Bulbs and Batteries.