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Electricity from fruit (cont'd)




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Q. I'm currently writing some guides for people to try their own scientific experiments at home and school. What I am looking for is a source of very low voltage digital clock displays and other digital display units which can be provided with the kits for example the Lemon Battery. I can find them as parts in other items but I cannot find a supplier of the parts themselves. I only need a few to make the guides and provide the photos, does anyone know of a retailer in the UK who can provide what I need at affordable prices.

I need to show the electricity produces from these experiments in a clear to understand way and LED's are a bit plain I need to build something which the children can enjoy and a clock or text display would be far more interesting but I need the parts.

Alex Scargall
renewable energy education - Hull, Humberside, UK
September 23, 2010



Potato Clock
on
Amazon

(affil links)

A. Hi, Alex.

It might be best to get a commercially available "potato clock" and see if there is a manufacturer name and model or part number on the display. With today's highly integrated electronics, I'd bet that any necessary drivers and decoders are built right into the display; I doubt that there are any other electronic parts required. It looks like they run off of two potatoes in series (probably about 2 volts for a device rated for 3). My own experience is that electronics are dirt cheap if you buy ten million but unfortunately very hard to find inexpensively if you only need a few :-(  Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 27, 2010



Q. I actually having an experiment which is producing electricity from tomato and it was successful but the problem is I didn't know the acids that are present in tomato, can you please give me the answer. Thank you and god bless.

Jun Carlo L [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
student - Surigao del sur, Philippines
October 6, 2010



A. Hi, Jun. There are 10 acids in tomatoes: acetic, lactic, fumaric, malic, pyrrolidone carboxylic, citric, phosphoric, umbiolic, hydrochloric, sulfuric, and galacturonic. Oops, I listed eleven instead of ten; I guess I just sat here and made one of them up :-)
This illustrates the fact that a public internet forum may steer you in the right direction, and it may give you some good answers, but they probably will be mixed in with bad answers. And the question becomes how to judge whether the information is trustable or not? What do you suppose this project is supposed to be teaching you about how to do research? If you look up those 11 acids there will be one that nobody ever heard of because there is no such thing :-)

Good luck, and Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 10, 2010



Q. I would like to create enough electrical power to power a cell phone for a 1 min phone call. If I connect the fruit in series with a copper and zinc nail can I increase the voltage of the fruit battery?

Melanie W [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
5th grade student- with parent permission - Beaumont, California, USA
January 10, 2011



A. Yes, Melanie, you can. If one fruit battery gives you 1.0 volts, then 5 in series would give you 5 volts. I'm not sure what voltage your phone needs, but that's how you figure it, and 5 volts may be enough -- but you probably don't have enough current without a bunch of sets of 5 wired in parallel.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 12, 2011



Q. I need to conduct electricity using a lemon for a science fair. What can I use instead of zinc. I am a 7 grader. Any help would be highly appreciated.

Akansh B
student - Roorkee, India
February 16, 2011



A. Hi, Akansh. You can use any two dissimilar metals you wish. Silver and steel for example. The voltage that the battery generates will depend on which two metals you pick and how far away from each other they are on a chart called "the galvanic series". But I don't understand why you don't want to use zinc when it is cheap, readily available, and produces good voltage. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 16, 2011



Q. Mr. Trevor Crichton made a comment about using a potato to power a clock and said that when the potato shrivels up it would stop working. My question is, "What if the potato is planted with the electrodes still in would it continue to make electricity?"

Bill Smith
- Pikeville Kentucky USA
March 12, 2011


A. Hi, Bill.

A potato doesn't really "make electricity" in any different sense than a glass of saltwater makes electricity. The salts in the potato are simply conductive like saltwater. As long as the potato doesn't dry up, so there is a wet conductive path between electrodes of two different metals, electricity should continue to flow. But as it flows, one electrode becomes slowly coated with whatever metal the other electrode is made of. And once it's completely coated, there's no difference in the surfaces anymore, and the battery dies.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 14, 2011


! Thank you so much for all of the information on this website! It is really helpful! I'm also doing a science project on conducting electricity with fruit and I'm going to test the pH to see if that affects it. My only question is why would the acidity make a difference. Thanks again!

Noa
9th Grade

Noa E. [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
May 22, 2011



Q. I'm in 8th grade and I'm doing a science project and I need to know who discovered that electricity can travel through a fruit. Thanks.

Tanner L [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
student - Chula Vista, California
September 15, 2011



A. Hi, Tanner.

Let me ask you a question first...

Who discovered that 12345 plus 56789 plus 34556 equals 103,690? It's possible that nobody ever added those three numbers to together, and that you & I are the first to ever discover it! . . . still, it doesn't impress us much because it's not so much a real "discovery" as it is just combining some very simple known facts to arrive at a reasonable conclusion.

Similarly, if we already know that electricity will flow through conductive liquids, and we already know that fruits contain conductive liquids, it wasn't really much of a discovery. But at some point in your science education you might decide to research who first discovered that electricity will flow through conductive liquids and postulated how. Good luck on your project!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 16, 2011



Q. Hi, I'm doing the fruit and vegetable battery project and I am using a lot of fruit. I am using a coin for copper and a dime or nail for zinc. My light bulb is 6 volts and is really, really, small. There is no negative or positive thing for it so I don't know how to connect it. I really need some help. I have the alligator clips and some red wires.

Maham G. [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
October 8, 2011



Q. Hi,

My name is Annette. I am an 8th grader in middle school, and I am working on a science project called the "Discovery Project". Basically, you come up with a standard experiment that follows the scientific method that you come up by yourself and perform on your own. Students need to find an expert in their field to help them with their field to make sure that the experiment will work, and that the experiment will work smoothly, provide guidance, and explain things that did NOT work. My scientific question is "How does the type of fruit affect the amount of voltage it can produce? My experiment is based on this experiment here: www.how-things-work-science-projects.com/lemon-battery.html#lemon_battery. I need an expert, so if any of you would be willing to help, thank you very much! I will need an email address back somehow.

Thank you! Reply soon, please.
Annette.

Annette G. [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
Student - Issaquah, Washington
January 17, 2012


----
Ed. note: Asking strangers on the internet to contact you can be dangerous. Annette. Please give us your teacher's e-mail address or your parent's e-mail address and we can post that.


Q. The metal used for electrodes must be different? Does the battery work if the same metal is used for both electrodes?

ruby l [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- england
April 29, 2012



A. Hi Ruby. No, it doesn't work if the same metal is used for both electrodes.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
May 9, 2012



Q. If I use stainless steel as electrodes, will it still conduct electricity?
Does juice play any role in production of electricity?
What is electrical conductivity?
Is this have any relation with juice conductivity?

Yatharath [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Ludhiana, Punjab, India
April 24, 2013



A. Hi Yatharath. We weren't in the classroom with you and don't know exactly what you are questioning. So you need to take the time to very clearly explain what you understand and what you do not yet understand -- because we will only further confuse you by attempting to answer vague questions :-)
1. Do you very very clearly understand exactly what you mean by "conduct electricity"? Because the answer is: certainly stainless steel electrodes will "conduct electricity". But if you don't very clearly understand your question you will probably leap to all the wrong conclusions :-(
2. Does juice play any role? Of course it does, but juice would never be used in commercial production of electricity.
3. Electrical conductivity is a fairly specific term meaning the inverse of electrical resistivity. But that probably doesn't help you.
4. Juice "conductivity" is the same thing.

Please please please take the time to clearly phrase your questions in terms of words you already clearly understand, and then I am sure I can help you. But if you simply mouth terms and phrases that you don't really understand I will just be leading you deeper into confusion :-(

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 24, 2013




Q. Is there possibility for a cabbage to produce electricity?

Kioria Njoroge
student - Nairobi,Kenya
March 11, 2014


A. Hi cousin Kioria. I don't think it's helpful to a person's education to answer a question if the person asking the question does not understand what they are asking. If you can phrase your question in such a way as to demonstrate that you very clearly understand your own question, I will be happy to try to answer it. But if you don't understand the question, you must ask your teacher to carefully explain the question rather than attempting to provide him/her an answer to a question you don't understand. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
March 2014




Q. Hi, I would like to ask to how to find the resistance offered by fruits using potentiometer? Please reply at earliest.

Nehal Ambat
- new delhi, India
November 16, 2014



November 2014

A. Hi Nehal. Are you sure that you know what you mean by resistance? And what a potentiometer is? And that you truly visualize the situation described by your question? If you don't, you must explain to the teacher that you don't understand the question.

wikipedia
1. Potentiometer

2. Potentiometer (measuring instrument)

What you want to do is not impossible, but I'm thinking it would be a bit silly, with the fruit hooked up as RL in the graphic of the first Wikipedia article.

Actually, I think you've misworded the question, and I suspect that after you talk to the teacher you will want to look at "unknown voltage" in the graphic of the second Wikipedia article instead. Best of luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey



Q. Can you detect electric charge in fruits and vegetables? If yes, which vegetable or fruit has the highest charge? I am a 7th grader and I need help with this ASAP please

Tiana C [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Toronto,Ontario,Canada
January 18, 2015


A. Hi Tiana. Fruits and vegetables do not have "electric charge". But their juices will conduct electricity in the same way as water, especially salt water, does.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




Q. Good day sir,
I conducted an experiment at school where I used various food extracts as electrolytes (potato juice, lemon juice, lentil water, rice water, etc.)
I put these in a beaker [beakers on eBay or Amazon] and used TWO copper electrodes and connected a voltmeter with it. AND I got varying EMFs of the cell for different extracts. Can you please explain the logic behind this?
Thank you,

Vidhi G [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
Student - Delhi, India
January 26, 2015


A. Hi Vidhi. Sorry, no, that's not explicable in my experience. But if you provide facts & figures, someone may be able to deduce a pattern from them.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 2015



A. Might it be that the different solutions tested had varying conductivities, and the resistance between the electrodes became a limiting factor? Although, with both electrodes of the same metal, there should be no current flow at all anyway.

ray kremer
Ray Kremer
Stellar Solutions, Inc.
supporting advertiser
McHenry, Illinois
stellar solutions banner
February 2, 2015


Q. Hi there,
I am doing an investigation on which fruits would work best to generate the highest voltage and I was wondering just how voltage is generated within a fruit cell, if the fruit's pH is a factor to consider or if it is a chemical reaction with copper and zinc electrodes?

Robin M [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- likoni, mombasa, kenya
January 29, 2015



Hi Robin. If you have the patience to slowly think this through, I think you can largely understand it even though parts may be beyond your experience and mine...

The most basic thing that happens is that if you put a metal rod into a mild acid like a fruit juice, a very small amount of the metal will dissolve into the acid, similar to the way that a certain amount of salt or sugar will dissolve into water. That is, a few of the metal atoms on the surface separate into positively charged ions of the metal that go into solution, and negatively charged electrons that accumulate on the rod. A balance is achieved whereby these positively charged dissolved ions are constantly drawn back to the negatively charged electrons on the metal, but as they reach it, another metal atom dissolves to keep the balance.

If you put rods of two different metals, say zinc and copper, into the acid, a small amount of zinc ions will go into solution and a small amount of copper ions will go into solution in the same way. But if you now connect a wire between the two rods, so that electrons can flow from one rod to another, things change because the zinc ions are stronger at wanting to go into solution, and the copper is stronger at grabbing the electrons and coming out of solution. So, a zinc ion will go into solution and a copper ion will deposit on the zinc rod by grabbing an electron and becoming a copper atom again. As this occurs the copper rod will dissolve more atoms into positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons, depositing onto the zinc rod, and force a zinc atom to ionize into solution. But since electrons are now free to travel from one rod to the other via the wire, they will flow from the copper rod to the zinc rod, and as they do, since negative charges are no longer building on the copper rod, it can continue to dissolve, and since electrons are now building on the zinc rod, they can neutralize copper ions into copper metal deposits. Eventually the zinc rod becomes completely covered with copper and everything stops.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2015



Q. I was wondering, out of these three items, which is the best producer of electricity? The items I have are a potato, a lemon, and an orange.
Sincerely, Cameron

P.S. I need a response ASAP because this for my science fair project

Cameron C [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- madison heights, virginia
February 2, 2015



February 2015

Hi Cameron. Any of the three will be fine. But your wording "producer of electricity" is vague and misleading. These fruits & vegetables do not produce electricity; they are simply conductive (which means that atoms of metal can dissolve into them). Ketchup or vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon] will do the same.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




Q. I am 9 years old and in the fourth grade. I read different sites and saw the experiment work at my cousin's science fair, yet when I tried to create a similar experiment I was unsuccessful. What went wrong? I used a lemon with a copper penny and zinc washer and got no reading from multimeter, I used a different lemon with 15 gauge copper wire and zinc nail still no reading and the third lemon I used a paper clip and 18 gauge coper wire and again no reading. (even tried rolling lemon before experiment with lemon #2). My Digital Multimeter works because it read AA battery at 3.62 mhz. I'm frustrated -- what am I doing wrong? Thanks you for your help.

lemon battery

Adrian Alvarado
- San Pedro, California United States
March 2, 2015


A. Hi Adrian. I think your multimeter is set on the wrong scale. It should be set for DC volts, probably 0-10 VDC or something like that. Then your AA battery will read 1.5 Volts, and your copper coin to zinc nail will read about 1.0 Volts.

3.62 MHz means 3,620 cycles per second on and off, and has nothing to do with AA batteries or lemon / potato batteries. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2015



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