🥔 Potato Batteries

Power a light with potatoes. Draft: not yet checked

How it works

Two different metals stuck in a potato make a tiny battery. The potato juice carries charge between the metals, and the current flows around the loop of wire. Hook a few potatoes together and you get enough power to light an LED.

What you will do

1. Clip the last wire to the LED.
2. Look into the tube.
3. Swap the clips. What happens?

Try it at home

Ask a grown-up to help.

What you need:

Potatoes or lemons, galvanized nails (zinc) and copper (coins or wire), an LED, clip leads.

Safety at home:

Adult handles the LED and wires. Do not eat the potatoes afterward.

Watch how it is done:

• TheDadLab – Potato Battery (opens another site)
• Binghamton University – Light Up an LED with Potatoes (opens another site)