We're going "Back to School" today, revisiting a classic at-home experiment that turns lemons into batteries — powerful enough to turn on a clock or a small lightbulb. But how does the science driving the "lemon battery" show up in those household batteries we use daily?
We get into just that today with environmental engineer Jenelle Fortunato about the fundamentals of electric currents and the inner workings of batteries.
You can build your very own lemon battery using Science U's design here, written by Fortunato and Christopher Gorski of Penn State College of Engineering.
A reminder: Do NOT play with household batteries. Be safe out there, scientists!
Want us to cover more science basics? Email us your ideas at shortwave@npr.org — we might feature them on a future episode!
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This episode was originally produced by Rebecca Ramirez and edited by Viet Le. The encore version was produced and edited by Rebecca Ramirez.
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