electricity from fruits -> making a 'survival-light'

[Marieke van Esch]

Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I'm
working on a project about light and survival. I read about the possibility
to get electricity from a lemon or potato. I want to make a lamp that you
can 'plug' into a lemon or potato. The light has to be bright enough to see
in the dark, and it has to last for at least an hour or so. Is this
possible, and if it is, how does it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to use 2
different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them into the fruit
(the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal should not touch inside the
fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm) and a zinc coated nail, and a copper
thread (I tried both isolated and non isolated). I took the wire of old
christmaslights to connect the zinc to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I
firtst used a small bulb, but later I thought a LED was better). It didn't
work! I read several articles on the internet, and as I can judge I did
everything as I should have..

 

[Larry]

"Marieke van Esch" <marieke_van_esch@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<KM8qc.34812$F33.24411@amsnews03.chello.com>...

Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I'm
working on a project about light and survival. I read about the possibility
to get electricity from a lemon or potato. I want to make a lamp that you
can 'plug' into a lemon or potato. The light has to be bright enough to see
in the dark, and it has to last for at least an hour or so. Is this
possible, and if it is, how does it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to use 2
different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them into the fruit
(the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal should not touch inside the
fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm) and a zinc coated nail, and a copper
thread (I tried both isolated and non isolated). I took the wire of old
christmaslights to connect the zinc to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I
firtst used a small bulb, but later I thought a LED was better). It didn't
work! I read several articles on the internet, and as I can judge I did
everything as I should have..

Try increaseing the surface area of both electrodes and stick with the LED
You may also need to use two lemon batterys to get enought voltage/ Current,

Hope it Helps.

 

[dont know]

Marieke van Esch wrote:

Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands. I'm working on a project about light and survival. I
read about the possibility to get electricity from a lemon or potato.
I want to make a lamp that you can 'plug' into a lemon or potato. The
light has to be bright enough to see in the dark, and it has to last
for at least an hour or so. Is this possible, and if it is, how does
it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to use
2 different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them into the
fruit (the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal should not
touch inside the fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm) and a zinc
coated nail, and a copper thread (I tried both isolated and non
isolated). I took the wire of old christmaslights to connect the zinc
to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I firtst used a small bulb, but
later I thought a LED was better). It didn't work! I read several
articles on the internet, and as I can judge I did everything as I
should have..

look at this:
http://www.hilaroad.com/camp/projects/lemon/lemon_battery.html

 

[dont know]

dont know wrote:

Marieke van Esch wrote:

Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands. I'm working on a project about light and survival. I
read about the possibility to get electricity from a lemon or
potato. I want to make a lamp that you can 'plug' into a lemon or
potato. The light has to be bright enough to see in the dark, and
it has to last for at least an hour or so. Is this possible, and if
it is, how does it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to
use 2 different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them
into the fruit (the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal
should not touch inside the fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm)
and a zinc coated nail, and a copper thread (I tried both isolated
and non isolated). I took the wire of old christmaslights to
connect the zinc to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I firtst used
a small bulb, but later I thought a LED was better). It didn't
work! I read several articles on the internet, and as I can judge I
did everything as I should have..

look at this:
http://www.hilaroad.com/camp/projects/lemon/lemon_battery.html

sorry, I can not send any pennys (copper) by email

 

[Peter de Vroomen]

I took the wire of old christmaslights to connect the zinc to
a LED, and the LED to the copper (I firtst used a small bulb,
but later I thought a LED was better).

You do know that a LED is polarised, don't you? I.e. that it has a + and a -
side. Have you tried exchanging the pins of the LED?

Bulbs generally need more voltage to light. What kind of bulb did you try? A
bycicle light needs about 12V, which you will only get when you connect some
fruits in series .

What you really might need is a voltmeter. It will show you the voltage that
is generated. LED's need somewhere between 1.2V to 2.0V depending on the
color (red needs the least voltage, blue the most).

Keep at it, it is bound to work . The more acidic the fruit is, the more
voltage it will deliver. Zinc and copper are the right materials afaik.

You could also make a battery with salt water, but you'll need different
metals. Can't remember which.

PeterV

 

[Reason]

"Marieke van Esch" <marieke_van_esch@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:KM8qc.34812$F33.24411@amsnews03.chello.com...

Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
I'm
working on a project about light and survival. I read about the
possibility
to get electricity from a lemon or potato. I want to make a lamp that you
can 'plug' into a lemon or potato. The light has to be bright enough to
see
in the dark, and it has to last for at least an hour or so. Is this
possible, and if it is, how does it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to use 2
different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them into the fruit
(the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal should not touch inside
the
fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm) and a zinc coated nail, and a
copper
thread (I tried both isolated and non isolated). I took the wire of old
christmaslights to connect the zinc to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I
firtst used a small bulb, but later I thought a LED was better). It didn't
work! I read several articles on the internet, and as I can judge I did
everything as I should have..

Doing some rough calculations, a "Lemon-light" would require some very large
electrodes to produce enough current to light even a small LED. You could
build a comb-like array of electrodes, to insert into the lemon at multiple
points, or slice the lemon thinly and place it between two sheets of the
proper metals.

 

[Larry]

"Reason" <PDexter@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<dmLwc.22678$B%4.4825@clgrps12>...

"Marieke van Esch" <marieke_van_esch@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:KM8qc.34812$F33.24411@amsnews03.chello.com...
Hi, I am a student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
I'm
working on a project about light and survival. I read about the
possibility
to get electricity from a lemon or potato. I want to make a lamp that you
can 'plug' into a lemon or potato. The light has to be bright enough to
see
in the dark, and it has to last for at least an hour or so. Is this
possible, and if it is, how does it work?

I have already experimented, but with no result. I know I have to use 2
different pieces of metal, copper and zinc, and stick them into the fruit
(the metal has to be clean, the pieces of metal should not touch inside
the
fruit). I used a strip of zinc (1x7 cm) and a zinc coated nail, and a
copper
thread (I tried both isolated and non isolated). I took the wire of old
christmaslights to connect the zinc to a LED, and the LED to the copper (I
firtst used a small bulb, but later I thought a LED was better). It didn't
work! I read several articles on the internet, and as I can judge I did
everything as I should have..


Doing some rough calculations, a "Lemon-light" would require some very large
electrodes to produce enough current to light even a small LED. You could
build a comb-like array of electrodes, to insert into the lemon at multiple
points, or slice the lemon thinly and place it between two sheets of the
proper metals.
Try getting a VOM (meter) and use it to find V output and current output.
Hope it helps