Food Batteries:

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Food Batteries: The Electrical Conductivity of Oranges, Lemons, Potatoes, and Tomatoes and How They Compare Abstract: A battery is an electrochemical conversion device with three major components. It consists of two Electrodes: an anode (negative terminal) and a cathode (positive terminal). Also, batteries have an electrolyte, the source of ionic conductivity. The electric current is created by the flow of electrons between the two electrodes. By inserting an anodized (zinc) nail and a copper wire into a fruit or vegetable, a simple food battery can be created. The juices within the produce serve as the electrolyte, the zinc nail is the anode, and the copper wire is the cathode. This study compares the electrical conductivity of various fruits and vegetables to see which one generates the most voltage and current. Three each of oranges, lemons, potatoes, and tomatoes were used, along with all the necessary materials described above to turn the produce into food batteries. Batteries were made of each fruit and vegetable and multi-meter readings were recorded. The findings show that the lemons produced the most voltage. The lemons also produced the most current. None of the individual food batteries produced enough voltage to light up an LED light, but when a three-celled battery is connected in a serial arrangement, the voltage is increased enough to turn on the LED light. Food batteries are not a viable alternative to store bought batteries but the fact that they do work triggers the quest to design more green and sustainable batteries for the future. The future of technology could some day be biological fuel cells that generate electricity directly, without polluting by-products. Introduction: A battery is an electrochemical conversion device comprised of one or more electrochemical cells. It stores and converts chemical energy into electrical energy. An

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