Lemon Battery Research Paper

Batteries are important to human technology because batteries act as a power source for the electronic world. Portable batteries make technology more convenient to use without being connected to a power source. Specifically, wet cell batteries are used in cars and airplanes to power the transportation world. A lemon battery, which is oftentimes used as an educational science experiment, demonstrates the transfer of electrons in an electrochemical cell. The invention of the wet cell battery has offered the world economic and technological success that will benefit future generations for many years to come.
According to Thoughtco.com, the wet cell battery was invented in 1866 by George Leclanche. Born in France in 1839, Leclanche used the original

The zinc acts as the anode and the copper acts as the cathode. Copper has a higher electronegativity than zinc, so the bonding electrons in zinc leave and flow into the copper. However, this reaction would not be possible without the lemon in the experiment, which acts as an electrolyte because it contains citric acid in the form of lemon juice. When the zinc comes in contact with the lemon juice, oxidation occurs within the zinc. Oxidation is a process where an element loses electrons in a chemical reaction. These lost electrons travel into the copper in a process known as reduction. Reduction is a chemical reaction where an element gains electrons. Protons are also lost during this process, but protons cannot travel through the wire because they are very large in comparison to electrons. As a result, the protons remain in the electrolyte solution until the newly gained copper electrons pull them away from the electrolyte. This takes place because positive and negative charges attract each other, and in result this whole process causes hydrogen gas to be created inside of the lemon (“How to Make”). This full reaction is known as a redox reaction because it involves both oxidation and reduction working together to create a product, which in this case is hydrogen gas. Oxidation and reduction are never mutually exclusive because one element gains electrons as a result of another element losing electrons. In conclusion, the electricity produced in the lemon battery experiment does not come from the lemon juice. Contrary to popular belief, the electric current is created because of the reaction between zinc and copper that occurs due to a difference in electronegativity between