WEEK #6 Assignment # 1

Outline the specifics of your Lemon Power Lab!

Name: ___Andersen Teoh_____

Lab Title/Topic​: _____Lemon Powered Calculator_________

Objective​ (What are you testing/trying to find out?):

Whether or not lemons are able to power a calculator

Background/Research​ (Describe the chemistry that allows lemons to operate as a battery):

The zinc strips we use are oxidized inside the lemon, releasing energy in order to become a lower energy
state, which appears as voltage coming out of the positive end, the copper wire.

Hypothesis:​ (Idea or explanation that you then test through research and experimentation
One sentence in an ​if ____, then_____​ statement ​(when appropriate)​:
If I keep adding lemons to a circuit powering a battery one by one, then after the 3rd lemon the calculator
will be able to solve an equation.

Materials to be tested​: Other Needed Materials​:

Calculator, lemons Screwdriver, copper wires, zinc strips, wire with
alligator clips

Procedure (Order of steps) ​Remember as you write these steps be as specific as possible. I should be able to
pick up your procedure and follow step by step how you conducted your experiments​:
1. Roll three lemons gently on a surface in order to break up the cells holding the acid in
2. Push a piece of copper wire about an inch into each lemon, starting with one
3. Push the zinc strip in next to the copper wire as close as possible without touching
4. The copper wire is positive and the zinc strip is negative
5. Attach the negative and positive sides of each lemon together with alligator clips
6. Leave a copper wire and a zinc strip on either end with just one side of the alligator clip attached
7. Unscrew the battery casing and take the battery out of the calculator
8. Connect the other side of the alligator clips to the correct positive or negative side respectively
9. Turn on the calculator
10. Repeat for two and three lemons

Data/Observation​ Information that was gathered (​All data is presented in a neat and organized way. All pictures and
tables are labeled. Includes observations as needed. All measurements and units of data are clear and accurate.):
● Battery voltage in calculator: 1.5 volts
● Number of lemons required to power the calculator: 3

Analysis of data​ Puts meaning to the Data ​(Also a good place to address independent, dependent, and controlled
variables here​):
The independent variable was the calculator and the type of wiring I used, I did not change anything about
it. The dependent was the number of lemons, which varied from 1 to 3. Control was the calculator battery,
which I already knew worked. Because it took 3 lemons to power the 1.5 volt calculator, we can assume
that each lemon that I had approximately outputted 0.5 volts of energy.
Conclusion​ Revisit and summarize the findings. Writing of conclusions using CLEAR format (Claim,
Lead-in, Evidence, Analysis, Repeat (of the evidence and analysis steps)):
A lemon outputs about 0.5 volts of energy and here’s why. Three lemons can be used to power a calculator
that uses a 1.5 volt battery through the process of the energy released through oxidation. When zinc is put
into an acid, like the one inside a lemon, it oxidizes, releasing energy in order to become stable in a lower
energy state. This energy is drawn to the copper wire that is put inside of the lemon and is drawn out as the
positive end. I was able to power a 1.5 volt calculator with 3 lemons, but was not able to power it with 1 or
2, meaning that each lemon outputs an average of 0.5 volts. I was able to confirm this by using my control,
the normal 1.5 volt battery for the calculator, and saw that that indeed worked as well. By doing this
experiment with 1 and 2 lemons respectively, I know that they do not have enough charge to power the
calculator. My hypothesis was right from the beginning, that I would need three lemons to charge a
calculator.