Brute.

Twenty-Six

"You're doing what?" Hannah asked again.

"I'm working on powering a car with lemons," I laughed.

"There is no way that can be possible," Hannah laughed, "have you lost it? Do I need to call a doctor?"

"No," I laughed again, "Chris and Karl are here to help me. I finally finished all of my research after almost two weeks. And it's honestly working."

"You're lying, there's no way it's working," Hannah scoffed, "and why are Chris and Karl helping you?"

"They are helping me film the project, since I'm probably not going to be able to get my car into the gym for open house I figured I'd film it," I explained, "and you can't tell anyone about my project."

"Why not?" Hannah laughed.

"Because Jimmy tried to power a car with lemons for a video, and it didn't work so he scraped it," I smiled at the thought of how Jimmy will react to this.

"I'm getting big genius energy from you right now," Hannah laughed, "what made you think you could make it work?"

"I had a theory. Citric acid can carry an electrical current, and if you can get it concentrated enough, it should be able to conduct enough electricity to jump start a battery. Then, I took my theory to the head of the physics department of ECU and he agreed that my theory could be possible."

"It's annoying how smart you are," Hannah laughed, "when are you seeing Jimmy again?"

"Probably tonight, why?" I asked.

"Because you've never had a boyfriend, and this is a big deal for me!" Hannah laughed.

"I'm so glad you're so invested in my relationship, because it's so important to you," I laughed sarcastically.

"I am invested! Have you had another awkward wake-up call since the other day?" Hannah asked with a laugh.

"No, thank god," I sighed in relief, "I've only been there once since, despite his efforts."

"Oh, so he's like asking for a sleepover every night?" Hannah asked.

"Maybe," I laughed, "I have to get going though, my car battery is dying so I can finally test my project."

"Okay, well good luck. And let me know when you let Jimmy take you home," Hannah laughed.

"Ew, what does that even mean?" I asked.

"When you know, you know. Don't worry about it."

"I hate you," I laughed.

Hannah and I hung up our call and I connected the machine I was borrowing from the physics department at ECU to my car battery. With a press of a button, it will tell me the level of the power in the battery.

"Okay, how can we help?" Chris asked.

"My battery is drained, so now we can set up the current to test if the concentration of the acid is right," I explained.

Chris helped me move the table of lemons submerged in a citric acid solution closer to my car. Each of the lemons was cut in half to release the citric acid inside the lemons. Each one has a piece of pure of silver that is stuck into the lemon, with enough of the silver sticking out to carry the electrical current.

"Okay Myra, explain what you're doing," Karl smiled at me, holding up the camera.

"Citric acid in lemons acts as an electrolyte, which conducts electricity. Lemons won't power a car continuously, but they should be able to conduct enough electricity to jump start and charge the battery. This is about five pounds of lemons submerged in a citric acid solution. Lemons contain citric acid, but not enough to conduct a current as strong as we need. The solution is a ratio of 2 o 1, citric acid to water. In each of the lemons, we have a piece of pure silver, which has a conductivity rate of 105%. Chris and I are taking pure copper wire, which has a conductivity rate of 100%, and we are wrapping the wire around each piece of silver," I explained as Chris and I wrapped the wire tightly around each piece of silver.