Apples to Pears

Lila Zemp
Problem/Question
Which would produce
enough energy to light a
small LED light and
how much voltage
would it take between
apples and pears?
 Hypothesis
Acids make charged particles that provide a conductive
liquid that in turn completes the circuit. Apple plus zinc,
plus copper as the conductive electrolyte make a battery.
The same in essence with the pear. Pear plus zinc, plus
copper as the conductive electrolyte make a battery.
 Materials
Pair of wire strippers

4 Apples #18 AWG Copper Strip( total 2 ft) cut

in 4 pieces

Alligator clips (12)

4 Pears
LED Light (1)

Fluke meter
4 pieces of copper

4 pieces of zinc
1.
Procedure
Roll your pieces of fruit on a table or squeeze between your hands to loosen the juices, dont break the skin
2. Take one piece of cooper and zinc and push each piece 2 in apart in one apple.
3. Take your wire stripper and cut a piece about 4-6 in and then strip about 1 in from the insulation from the
cooper wire.
4. Take the wire stripper to cut and strip a LED light(I used some Christmas lights)
5. Use the crimper from the wire stripper and crimp the wire to the alligator clips.
6. Hook up the clips in series to the zinc and copper pieces that are placed in the apple.
7. Take the Fluke Meter(Multi Meter) place one positive to copper and one negative to zinc.
8. Set the Fluke Meter(Multi Meter) to DC Voltage to read the voltage that is received from the apple.
9. Then take your LED light, attach one end to the copper piece and one end to the zinc piece to see if it lights.
10. Follow same procedure with the pears.
 Results/Data Apple Voltage Readings
4

We started with one apple and measured out the voltage that it 3.5

produced. It measured .97 volt. I placed the LED light to see if it would 3

light. It did not give a result. We then proceeded with two apples. The 2.5

two together measured at 1.95 volt. I tried the LED light , again no 2

1.5
result. We followed through with three apples, they measured at 2.77
1
volt. The LED light again came back with no results. Last we tried four 0.5
apples measuring at 3.69 volt the LED light gave us a flicker. 0
1 Apple 2 Apples 3 Apples 4 Apples

The pears were next. We started with one pear measuring at .84 volt, Pear Voltage Readings
provided with no result with the LED light. We next tried two pears 4

measuring at 1.82 volt, the LED light did not give a result. We then 3.5

followed with three pears measuring at 2.64 volt, again the LED light 3

did not provide a result. We finally applied four pears measuring at 2.5

3.43 volt. The pears did not give any result to the LED light. 2

1.5

0.5

0
1 Pear 2 Pears 3 Pears 4 Pears
 Conclusion
In conclusion we had found through readings in
the voltage that the apples had a slightly higher reading from the
pears. It may be due to that slight increase in acidity from the apples
that we were able to produce that slight flicker. However in our
findings their had seemed to be to much resistance to energize the LED
light for a longer time frame. So that leads us to question are we
producing electricity or are we just reading electrolysis caused by the
dissimilar metals with the acidic nature of the fruit.