Essay --

The chemical reaction between 2 different metals and the juices in the potato generate enough voltage to actually make a clock run or a light bulb a small one. The whole experiment should produce about 1.5 volts DC. You might need to use more than one potato but one should power a small light bulb. It works because the phosphoric acid (H3PO4) in the potato. The potato acts more as an electrolyte not really having a role in the chemical reaction itself. This is why it’s very important to make sure that the pennies and nails never directly touch each other inside the potato. Zinc is an active metal which reacts readily with acid to liberate electrons. The acid’s active ingredient is positively charged hydrogen. So a transfer of electrons takes place between the zinc and the acid. The zinc is oxidized and the acid is reduced to hydrogen gas which you can see bubbling out around the electrodes. The reaction at the penny electrode depletes the electrons from the copper and attaches them to the hydrogen ions in the phosphoric acid. Researchers found that a potato boiled for 8 minutes can make for a battery that produced ten times the power of a raw one. They tried to power a LED light bulb for 40 days and it worked. the cost is around 1 tenth the cost of a typical AA battery. A potato could be used to charge a phone and other electronics. This would be good for regions without a power grid. The potato is not a power source it is the action called salt-bridge between the two metals allowing the electron current to move freely across the wire to create electricity. Numerous fruits rich in electrolytes like banana and strawberries can also form this chemical reaction. Besides being rich in phosphoric acid spuds are ideal in that they’re ... ...e electrons away while other metals accept extra electrons. Electrons are subatomic particles that zoom around an atoms center and make up the part of the atom that is negative charged the lemon batteries is a type of battery called a voltaic battery. These batteries are made up of two different metals which act as electrodes or places where electrons can enter or leave a battery. All voltaic batteries need their metals to be placed in an electrolyte. An electrolyte is a substance that can carry electrical current when dissolved in water. The tiny bit of salt in your saliva makes your saliva an electrolyte and other sour citric acid does the same thing for lemon juice. Batteries stop working when there is not enough of the electrolyte to react with the metal or not enough metal left to react with the metal or not enough metal left to react with the electrolytes.