BASUD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Basud, Tabaco City

SCIENCE
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
“An Experiment on Which Fruit Generates the Most Electricity That
Can Light Up a Bulb”

Damniel L. Games
Researcher

Marianne D. Dacillo
Coach
I- INTRODUCTION
A- BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

I used to observe in our home everytime our APEC bill came in, my
mother was always shocked that it was so high. One night when we were going
to bed, my mother told us to turn off the light. I wondered why we should turn off
the light since we used to sleep at night with light on. I asked her why should we
turn off the light, and she told me, in order for us to conserve electricity and
minimize our consumption. I saw another incident at school, when my classmate
tried to turn on the light, our teacher told him to better turn off the light for us to
save electricity. One evening when we are eating our dinner, my eldest sister,
who is now a Grade 8 science oriented student in TNHS, excitedly share what
she had learned in their science lesson that day about electricity. She mentioned
various ways to generate electricity. Some of these are water, metals, copper,
zinc and fruits that can be used as battery. When I heard her mentioned fruits, I
wondered and wanted to find out what can I do with the fruit to let electricity
generate, enough to light up a bulb. How will electricity generate? Which fruit it
is? Because of my curiosity and with little knowledge and experience I gained
last year in conducting an investigatory project, I asked my sister and my science
teacher to help me conduct another investigatory project.

B- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

MAIN PROBLEM: Which fruit in our table will generate most electricity enough to
light up a bulb?

SUB PROBLEMS:
1. What are the reasons why electricity generates to fruits?
2. What are the elements that are found in fruits to generate electricity?

C- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This investigation will be of help to the following:

1. Mothers- worries on APEC bill will be lessen.

2. Children- will still be able to sleep at night with a light on
3. Environment- alternative way on using electricity without causing pollution
4. Local farmers- more opportunity to double their production because of
continuous patronage of fruits

D- SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This study will focus on which fruit found in our table will generate most
electricity to light up a bulb. It will be measured in terms acidity or pH level fruits
contain on the day of the investigation. The investigator will not include time
duration the bulb will light up.
II- REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A- RELATED LITERATURE

In experimentation, the researcher observed the different scientific skills.

Type of fruit where electricity is generated was found out. Citrus fruit produced
the most electricity. The acidity of citrus fruit juice acts as an electrolyte that
conducts electricity. One citrus fruit have high acidity levels that can produce
7/10 of 1 volt of electricity.

III- METHODOLOGY

A- EQUIPMENTS/ MATERIALS

EQUIPMENTS:

Voltage meter, pH paper, 1.5 volts LED, cardboard, glue gun, glue stick

MATERIALS:

SET UP A- 4 pcs lemon, 4 pcs 2” galvanized nail, 4 pcs 2” strip copper wire,
30cm wire
SET UP B- 4 pcs apples, 4 pcs 2” galvanized nail, 4 pcs 2” strip copper wire,
30cm wire
SET UP C- 4 pcs bananas, 4 pcs 2” galvanized nail, 4 pcs 2” strip copper
wire, 30cm wire
SET UP D- 4 pcs ponkans, 4 pcs 2” galvanized nail, 4 pcs 2” strip copper
wire, 30cm wire

B- PROCEDURE

PREPARATION OF SET UPS

Gather 4 types of fruits. Use 4 pcs for every set up. Measure the acidity level
of each type of fruits. Begin with the first type of fruits and set aside the other
3 types of fruits. Roll and sqeeze the fruit a little bit to release the juice inside.
In each fruit insert 1 strip of copper wire and 1 pc of galvanized nail. Leave a
small section in each one out for the electrical wires to connect. Using an
electrical wire, connect the nail in one fruit to the copper strip in another fruit.
Do this to each fruit to form a chain. In the first fruit, connect the copper to the
long leg og the LED light. In the last fruit, connect the nail to the shorter end
of the LED light.
SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS

Gather 4 types of fruits you want to use and measure their acidity level. You
will measure the voltage after inserting 2 types of metals to get the
percentage of electricity generating on fruits.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

SET UP pH LEVEL
A (lemons) 2
B (apples) 3.5
C (bananas) 3
D (ponkans) 4

SET UPS VARIABLES

A 4 pcs lemon + 4 pcs galvanized nails + 4 pcs copper nail + 30 cm
copper wire + 1 pc 1.5 volts bulb
B 4 pcs apples + 4 pcs galvanized nails + 4 pcs copper nail + 30 cm
copper wire + 1 pc 1.5 volts bulb
C 4 pcs bananas + 4 pcs galvanized nails + 4 pcs copper nail + 30
cm copper wire + 1 pc 1.5 volts bulb
D 4 pcs ponkans + 4 pcs galvanized nails + 4 pcs copper nail + 30
cm copper wire + 1 pc 1.5 volts bulb

DATA GATHERING/ RESULTS

SET UPS voltage pH level Percentage of

( with metals inserted ) electricity
generating on fruits
A 3.6 volts 2 144%
B 3.2 volts 3.5 128%
C 3.4 volts 3 136%
D 3 volts 4 120%

Note: a series connection should create a voltage of 3.50 volts to be able to light up a LED
IV- DURATION OF THE INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

DATE TIME ACTIVITIES

September 8:00am- Preparation of materials and equipments, set ups

15, 2019 9:00am needed
9:00am- Gathered the initial data like the the volts and pH
10:00am level of fruits (without any metals inserted)
10:00am Measuring final volts and pH level of fruits (with
- metals inserted), experiment period, observing
11:00am
11:00am Gathering data: final volts, percentage of electricity
- generating to fruits
11:30am
1:00pm- Writing the experimental results and reports
5:00pm

V- CONCLUSIONS

Based on my investigation with several data and results gathered, the

electricity is not in the fruits. The acidity of citrus fruit juice acts as an electrolyte
that conducts electricity. The power actually came from the electron exchange
between a pair of electrodes (copper and zinc) that are inserted in fruits. Inserting
two different metals and connecting them with wire as terminals, can create an
electrical circuit. Then, when this material is brought in contact with the
electrolytes, the battery reaction starts to generate the voltage. Because of the
difference in electrical potential energy between the two metals, the positive and
negative ions will begin to move freely. It seems that if you have a piece of fruit,
couple of nails and some wire, then you can generate enough electricity to turn
on a light bulb. Having and using this kind of set up is like you are using a
battery.