Why do you have to hammer nails into a lemon? (Page 3 ) | March 22, 2025

How this battery works

Slices of lemons –

Batteries have three parts: a positive side called the cathode, a negative side called the anode, and a material in between called the electrolyte. A chemical reaction occurs in batteries that causes electricity to build up in the anode until it is forced out of the battery in one direction.

In your lemon-made battery, the nail acts as the cathode, the copper acts as the anode, and the zinc is the electrolyte. The two different types of metals, a zinc nail and a copper wire, cause a chemical reaction that creates a flow of electricity.

Your lemon batteries only produce one volt of energy each but when you connect 6 to 7 of them you can have up to 7 volts of electricity. This chemical reaction is enough to create enough power to turn on a light.

Try other fruits and vegetables

Citrus.

Experiment with this trick with other citrus fruits to see how much energy they generate. You can try to produce a chemical reaction with other acidic vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, apples and potatoes. See which produces the most and least current. Try making a large battery from a series of different fruits and vegetables! You will be surprised by this unusual method.