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[1381824981] Science Crazy

No.56509 View ViewReplyOriginalReport
ELECTRIC LEMON

Oh, no! That man's just been electrocuted by a lemon! Heh, heh! I was just joking, of course, but have you ever wondered how people get all that electricity into a little battery? Amazing, isn't it? Well, you can get electricity from a lemon too! This is what you'll need...

A lemon (of course!)

A galvanised steel nail

Plastic-coated wire

Copper wire

A compass

1. Press the lemon hard on the table so that it's juicy inside.

2. Get an adult to help you to strip the ends of the plastic-coated wire.

3. Twist one of the bared ends of the wire around the copper wire. Push the copper wire into the lemon.

4. Wrap part of the wire around the compass. Wind the other bare end of the wire around the galvanised nail. Push the nail into the lemon. Does the needle of the compass move?

THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES

Electricity, put simply, is the movement of tiny particles called electrons. A battery has to have three parts: a source of electrons, a place for the electrons to go, and something to carry the electrons from one place to the other. In the lemon battery, the iron nail gives out electrons, which move along the insulated wire to the copper wire. Since electricity has a magnetic field, it causes the compass' needle to move.