SSI3013 - Information AnCommunication Technology In Science

SSI3013 :
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN SCIENCE

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT :
The comparison OF VOLTAGE PRODUCTION with the TYPES CITRUS

Name

Student ID

Group

NORSYAFIQA BINTI MOHAMAD

D20161073952

UNGKU NUR MUNIRA BINTI UNGKU

TAUHID

D20161073961

LECTURER:
SIR AZMI BIN IBRAHIM

DATE:
13 OCTOBER 2016

TITLE : The comparison OF VOLTAGE PRODUCTION with the TYPES CITRUS

FRUITS towards the BRIGHTNESS OF LED
HYPOTHESIS
Lemon produces the highest voltage as compared to other citrus fruits due to it being more
acidic than the rest.

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine which type of citrus fruit produces the most
voltage. When copper and zinc are poked into the fruit, it becomes a wet cell and acts like a
battery. A copper wire and a zinc nail were both poked into four citrus fruits and each of the
four fruits was connected to a multi-meter which measured the voltage. It was determined
that the lemon and the grapefruit produced the same amount of voltage and had the most
voltage and the lime was determined to have the lowest voltage. The fruit that were more
acidic clearly produced more voltage than the fruits that were less acidic.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this experiment is to compare the VOLTAGE PRODUCTION by the

different types of CITRUS FRUITS towards the BRIGHTNESS OF LED

INTRODUCTION
Voltage is a measurement of electrical pressure in a circuit. It measures the electric current
that travels from one end of a wire in a circuit to the other end. The current travels like that
because there is more potential energy on one end of the wire than the other. When power
surges happen the voltage increases in electricity lines. Power surges are caused by lightning
strikes and the electric pressure in the electrical lines is increased by millions of volts when a
power surge happens. If the increase of voltage in the electrical lines lasts for one or two
nanoseconds it is called a spike. If the increase in electricity lasts for three or more
nanoseconds it is called surge. The definition of voltage is literally an electromotive force or

potential difference expressed in volts. Voltage is also the potential energy that makes the
electric current flow. It is the potential difference between two points in an electrical field.
Voltage pushes the electrons around as it moves through a circuit.
Citrus fruits are fruits that give a sour taste due to the fact that they are enriched in
vitamin C. Examples of citrus fruits are oranges, pamelo, lime, lemon, grapefruits. However,
in this mini project, only oranges, lemon and lime were used to testify which of the selected
citrus fruits give higher voltage readings that correspond to a brighter L.E.D light.
Usually citrus fruits are used to replace batteries because the high content of ascorbic
acid works best as electrical conductor that acts a medium that allow the flow of electron
from one terminal to other, thus promoting the flow of electrical current. Every battery has
two poles namely the anode and the cathode in which the electrons would flow from the
negative end to the positive end via a conducting wire. The movement of electrons through
the external circuit occurs when the potential energy on one end of the wires are greater than
the other.
So, in this experiment, for the electrodes, we are using zinc nail and a piece of copper.
Voltage as we know refers to the measurement of electrical pressure in a circuit. It measures
the electric current that travels from one end of a wire in a circuit to the other end. The
amount of current in a circuit depends on the amount of voltage available to motivate the
electrons. When there is more electrons flow, the current in a circuit also increases.
To conclude, L.E.D (light emitting diode) was connected to the circuit to validate that
the ascorbic acid in citrus fruits has an effect on the voltage productions and subsequently the
flow of currents.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
1. How does the citrus fruit light up the bulb of the L.E.D?
2. Which of the citrus fruit produces the highest voltage?
3. If the voltage high, the current low or high?

VARIABLES
Independent variable: Types of citrus fruit
Dependent variable: Voltage, current and brightness of LED light

MATERIALS

Lemons, limes, oranges

A multimeter
Beakers
Water

Zinc nails
Copper wires
pH meter
Polystyrene cup

METHODS
1. The zinc nail and copper wire were poked into the lemon and then connected to the
multimeter. The multimeter measured the voltage of the lemon. This method was
continued with the orange and lime.
2. The lemon juice was squeezed into a beaker as the zinc nail and copper wire were put
into the juice. The zinc nail and copper wire were connected to the multimeter which
then measured the voltage. The pH of lemon juice was measured by using pH meter.
This step was continued with the orange and lime.
3. Six beakers were prepared and each of the beaker was filled with 10 mL of lemon
juice. Then, 25 mL of water is added to each of the cup.
4. A zinc nail and a copper wire were put into a cup of lemon juice and connected to
other five cup of lemon juice. Then the juices were connected to a multimeter which
then measured the voltage.
5. Both the zinc nail and copper wire were connected to the multimeter which measured
the voltage and LED to observe its brightness. This method was continued with the
lemon and the lime.
6. The lemon juice was squeezed into the beaker as a pH strip was stuck into it. The pH
strip then measured the acidity of the juice. This method was continued with the
orange and lime.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Table 1 : Voltage and current produced from citrus fruits

Type of fruit
Lemon
Lime
Orange

Voltage (V)
0.482
0.015
0.473

Current (mA)
0.059
0.004
0.044

The lemon was found to produce the most voltage and current, producing 0.482 V and 0.004
A out of the three citrus fruits that were tested. The lime was found to be the one with the
least amount of voltage and current, producing 0.015 V and 0.004 A. Overall, the lemon
probably produced the most voltage because it has a higher acidity than a lime or an orange.
The more the acidity of a fruit, the more voltage it produced. This is because the citrus acid in
a fruit acts as the acid in a battery so the fruit can produce voltage.

Table 2 : Voltage and current produced from pure fruit juices

Type of pure fruit juice

Lemon
Lime
Orange

Voltage (V)
0.525
0.525
0.554

Current (mA)
0.268
1.800
0.260

pH
2.68
2.71
4.28

The orange juice was found to produce the most voltage, producing 0.554 V out of the
three types of fruit juices. The fruit juice with the least amount of voltage was the lemon and
lime, both producing 0.525 V. This is because the orange juice didnt have a voltage that was
different from the orange so the oranges voltage was not affected when it was pure juice. On
the other hand, the lemon juice and lime juice had a very different voltage than just the fruit.
This is probably because some more qualities that give the whole lemon more voltage and the
whole lime less voltage than the voltage of juice.

Table 3 :Voltage and current produced when fruit juice is added to water
Type of fruit
juice
Lemon
Lime
Orange

Voltage (V)
3.065
3.018
3.018

Current (mA)

Brightness of LED

pH

0.207
0.167
0.172

light
Brightest
Dim
Medium

2.75
2.81
3.40

It was found that the lemon juice produce the brightest LED light. This is probably
because the lemon has the highest acidity so it produces the more voltage and current,
lightning up the LED light. The LED light is light up when the fruit juice is added with water.
This is because acids make ions, or charged particles, when put in a solution like water. These
charged particles from acids are the same type as the charged particles in electric current, so
the fruit that will make the best battery is the one that is most acidic. Electrons flow more
readily through electrolyte solutions than non-electrolyte solutions indicates that solutions
with charge carriers reduce the resistance of the media. Thus, the electrons with sufficient
energy flow through metals and solutions. The energy comes from the chemical change in the
zinc when it dissolves into the acid. The energy does not come from the citrus fruits. The zinc
is oxidized inside the lemon, exchanging some of its electrons with the acid in order to reach
a lower energy state, and the energy released provides the power.

CONCLUSION
The citrus fruits were tested to examine how much voltage and current was produced.
The hypothesis is accepted because lemon produces the highest voltage as compared to the
other citrus fruits due to it being more acidic than the rest.

However, once the juice was extracted from each citrus fruit, it was found that orange
juice produces the highest voltage as compared to other fruit juices. This is because the
oranges voltage was not affected when it was pure juice. The lemon would produce the most
voltage because lemon has a lower pH level than the other selected citrus fruits.
Besides, when the each of the juice was diluted, it was observed that L.E.D would
ignite as compared to undiluted fruit juice. The reason for this is because addition of distilled
water to the fruit juice increases the dissociation of the compound into ions. As more ions
result in a greater electric current, the L.E.D could light up due to a decrease in the resistance
of the medium. This is true based on the formula I = V/R.

Reference:

http://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/4979/conducting-current-in-electrolytes

Bettelheim, Frederick A. (2010). Laboratory experiments for introduction to general,

organic and biochemistry 7th ed. Brooke-Cole.

Brown, Alfred E. (2012). Bensons microbiological applications. Laboratory manual

in General microbiology. 12th edition. McGraw Hill.

Mader, Sylvia S. (2012). Laboratory manual essentials of biology. McGraw Hill

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/fruit-power-battery

http://www.sciencefairadventure.com/ProjectDetail.aspx?ProjectID=154

Lampiran