Potato POWER: How to make a potato light bulb

The potato light bulb experiment is the perfect project to make at home! This simple and effective science experiment is a great introduction to learn the basics of making electricity and how wires allow electricity to move from one place to another in a complete circuit.

A potato contains sugar, water and acid. Certain types of metals – particularly copper and zinc – react with the potato when they are inserted inside. The metals effectively become electrodes, one positive and the other negative, and electrons flow between the metals inside the potato, making a small electric current. You can tap into the electricity by connecting wires from the electrodes to a light bulb to form a circuit. The electrons flow from the positive electrode to the light bulb and back to the negative electrode. The electrical current passing through the light bulb is enough to make it illuminate.

Whether potatoes will one day be powering our homes remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt that the potato battery is a popular experiment in households everywhere.
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