Potato / Lemon Battery

By inserting copper and zinc electrodes into a potato, you can create a simple battery.

1. Insert a copper strip and a zinc strip into a fresh potato (or lemon) about 2 cm apart and a few centimeters deep.
2. Connect alligator clips to the electrodes: red to copper (positive) and black/green to zinc (negative).
3. Use a multimeter to measure the open-circuit voltage.
4. Connect the potato battery to an LED or buzzer, ensuring correct polarity, and observe if it powers the device.
5. For more power, connect two or more potatoes:
   • Series: connect zinc of one potato to copper of the next to increase voltage.
   • Parallel: connect all coppers together and all zincs together to increase current.
6. Test multiple configurations (single potato, two in series, three in series, two in parallel, three in parallel) and record results.

Note that the energy does not come from the potato, it comes from the differences in reactivity of the copper and zinc. The potato acts as an electrolyte.

Potato Battery - TheDadLab:

POTATO BATTERY: Make your own - Questacon:

📄 How to Turn a Potato Into a Battery - Science Buddies: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p010/energy-power/potato-battery

• Compare potatoes with other fruits and vegetables (lemon, onion, apple).
• Test how electrode distance or depth changes current and voltage.

• Do not eat potatoes after use.
• Handle metal electrodes carefully to avoid cuts.
• Supervise children when using sharp electrodes and wires.

• Why does zinc lose electrons while copper gains them in this setup?
• How does the potato function as an electrolyte?
• Why does connecting batteries in series increase voltage, but parallel increases current?
• Why might an LED fail to light with just one potato battery?
• Could a potato battery realistically power larger devices like a phone? Why or why not?