Chemical Power - Batteries
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SCIENCE CONCEPT
The scientific concept behind chemical power is that chemical energy is energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds, like atoms and molecules. This energy is released when a chemical reaction takes place. Usually, once chemical energy has been released from a substance, that substance is transformed into a completely new substance. The substance varies from chemical to chemical.
The potato battery is what is called a cell or electrochemical battery. When the acids in the potato come in contact with the penny wrapped in copper wire. It causes a chemical reaction resulting in a small amount of power being created. This power is strong enough to power a small light or clock for a small amount of time. |
APPLICATION
Most people don’t really pay attention to the way batteries are made. But it can be a helpful thing to know in an emergency. In a life or death situation, knowing how to make a battery and using it to power a radio could be a life saver. Knowing how things are made also helps us to better understand the world we live in. By knowing how something as simple as a battery works. It grows the knowledge that people gain everyday.
As a teacher, you could use your knowledge of batteries to teach your class about how power is made. It can also be beneficial to know about batteries if you're wanting to eventually become a chemical engineer. By learning more, you can grow your curiosity and want to learn more about the process of a battery’s life. Being able to make batteries on the spot can also be a way to have fun. |
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CAREER
My career path is Chemical Engineering. Chemical Engineers design and develop chemical power and manufacturing plants. Chemical engineers apply the principles of chemistry, physics, and engineering to design equipment and processes for manufacturing products. According to CareerExplorer the average Chemical Engineer in Missouri makes 102,000 dollars.To become a Chemical Engineer you must obtain a bachelor degree in chemical engineering. If you also want to do chemical research, you may also have to get a Masters degree or even a Phd in chemical study.
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SCIENTIST
Lewis Urry was the inventor of both the lithium and alkaline batteries. Lewis was born in Canada on January 29, 1927. Lewis served in the Canadian army and later enrolled at the University of Toronto, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 1950. He then went to work as a development engineer for the Canadian National Carbon Company, in Toronto. Lewis studied the concept of chemical power for years and in 1959 he patented the eveready battery in the shape of the cylinder. The name would eventually turn into Energizer batteries. Lewis made over 50 patents before he retired in May of 2004. He passed away a few months later in october at the age of 77.
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ESSAY
Battery Power
For this year's Knights of science program I went with the idea of chemical power. I have always wondered how things worked and moved and I knew power was what made it all possible. I found many ways to make power including oil and coal factory’s. There were also wind and water turbines. I eventually decided on a potato battery since I could do it at home with the supply’s I already had.
I started off my project by looking at the best ways to gather all the information I would need. For the requirements of the project I started work on my career path, famous scientist, application, about me, and science concept. I got my famous scientist and I settled on the inventor Lewis Urry. Lewis was an inventor that lives in canada. He made the first energizer battery that is still around today. I learned he was the person who had the idea that energy could be stored in a cylinder. He had over 50 patents in his name before he died in 2004.
I also researched how modern day batteries are made. They are made of a mixture of lithium and other chemicals that produce energy when mixed. After concluding my research, I started on my video. I made a demonstration on how to make a potato battery. I put that demonstration and some facts from my research onto a video and made it all one piece. My demonstration was pretty simple. The first step was to gather all the materials. I would need aluminum foil, some short piece of wire with alligator clips on the ends, a few potatoes, a multi meter, a penny, and a knife to cut the potatoes.
The first step was to cut the potatoes in half. Next I pulled a piece of aluminum foil from its box and folded it in half. Making sure it was flat I laid it on the table. I placed the potato on the aluminum foil and cut a small slit on the top of it. I placed a Penny into the hole. Making sure it was snug and wouldn’t move around. The tighter the Penny was the better my connection would be. Next I hooked one end of a wire to the Penny and the other end of the wire to the meter. I grabbed another wire and hooked one end of it to the aluminum foil and the other end to the other lead in the meter. When I turned the meter on. It said the potato was producing approximately 0.377 amps of power.
This small amount of power is enough to power a small night light or phone charger. After more research I found out that the experiment could be doubled or even tripled, by simply adding another potato onto the aluminum foil. I cut another potato In half and laid it beside the other. I cut another small slot and placed my penny inside. I attached a jumper wire between the two penneys and hooked it up to the meter. The power output increased to 0.477 amps. Approximately .100 amps more than the single potato. I then added another potato using the same method and got the same results. The power output increased by approximately the same amount.
I concluded that every potato added would add the same amount of power continuously. In theory you could add potatoes forever and eventually have enough power to run a small fridge or even a heater in a life or death situation. The potato battery did not last long though. Within a few minutes the potatoes had lost a lot of their power. By the end of an hour. There was no energy left to be harvested in the potato. The chemistry behind the potato battery is pretty simple. The acid in the potato has a chemical reaction with the copper in the penny. The power produced travels down through the potato and into the aluminum foil where it will be grounded. When the miter is hooked to the two wires, It completed the circle of energy.
There are other ways to make potato batteries as well. The most common way is to start with a potato, a copper nail, a zinc nail, a meter, and some wire. You start by driving the nails into the potatoes. Next you wrap the wire around the head of both nails. You hook the other end of the wires to the meter and electricity will start to flow. You can also double and triple this method by putting nails in more potatoes and wiring them together with jumper wires. As long as the power can make a full circle it will work.
Essentially everything went well with my demonstration. I was able to produce a small amount of power with nothing but a potato. I also was able to prove the science behind why the demonstration worked. There were also a few things that went wrong. Sometimes the potato wouldn’t have a reaction with the penny because of the Penny being dirty. On occasion the slighter clips wouldn’t work and would slip off the penny or leads on the meter. Not allowing there to be a strong and secure connection and stopping the meter from taking a reading.
Overall I learned a lot of things from this project such as how power is made. I learned about the common ways people around the world get power. I learned a lot about how the world is a better place if there is power and that there are people all over the Wilkes that don’t have access to power. Either through lack of money or the fact that there isn’t even power in their town. We Also about how people can make power in a cleaner way so we don’t hurt the atmosphere. I learned about the plan called zero carbon future. This plan was set in place by the factory’s around the world. The goal is in a few years to be able to take harmful greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere faster than we produce the same gasses.
There are a few ways to get rid of greenhouse gasses. They include planting trees and bamboo, conserving forests and wetlands, and to protect existing carbon gas sinks. Carbon sinks and nature made traps that kill carbon monoxide and turn it into oxygen. These are very rare and are located in a few countries. They’re are a few located in Yellowstone national park in Montana. I also learned that human life revolves around electricity. Without it, nothing would be able to happen. There would be no vehicles, no planes, no phones, literally nothing. Electricity is one of the things that has made the U.S as powerful as it is and without it we would be unable to do anything.
For this year's Knights of science program I went with the idea of chemical power. I have always wondered how things worked and moved and I knew power was what made it all possible. I found many ways to make power including oil and coal factory’s. There were also wind and water turbines. I eventually decided on a potato battery since I could do it at home with the supply’s I already had.
I started off my project by looking at the best ways to gather all the information I would need. For the requirements of the project I started work on my career path, famous scientist, application, about me, and science concept. I got my famous scientist and I settled on the inventor Lewis Urry. Lewis was an inventor that lives in canada. He made the first energizer battery that is still around today. I learned he was the person who had the idea that energy could be stored in a cylinder. He had over 50 patents in his name before he died in 2004.
I also researched how modern day batteries are made. They are made of a mixture of lithium and other chemicals that produce energy when mixed. After concluding my research, I started on my video. I made a demonstration on how to make a potato battery. I put that demonstration and some facts from my research onto a video and made it all one piece. My demonstration was pretty simple. The first step was to gather all the materials. I would need aluminum foil, some short piece of wire with alligator clips on the ends, a few potatoes, a multi meter, a penny, and a knife to cut the potatoes.
The first step was to cut the potatoes in half. Next I pulled a piece of aluminum foil from its box and folded it in half. Making sure it was flat I laid it on the table. I placed the potato on the aluminum foil and cut a small slit on the top of it. I placed a Penny into the hole. Making sure it was snug and wouldn’t move around. The tighter the Penny was the better my connection would be. Next I hooked one end of a wire to the Penny and the other end of the wire to the meter. I grabbed another wire and hooked one end of it to the aluminum foil and the other end to the other lead in the meter. When I turned the meter on. It said the potato was producing approximately 0.377 amps of power.
This small amount of power is enough to power a small night light or phone charger. After more research I found out that the experiment could be doubled or even tripled, by simply adding another potato onto the aluminum foil. I cut another potato In half and laid it beside the other. I cut another small slot and placed my penny inside. I attached a jumper wire between the two penneys and hooked it up to the meter. The power output increased to 0.477 amps. Approximately .100 amps more than the single potato. I then added another potato using the same method and got the same results. The power output increased by approximately the same amount.
I concluded that every potato added would add the same amount of power continuously. In theory you could add potatoes forever and eventually have enough power to run a small fridge or even a heater in a life or death situation. The potato battery did not last long though. Within a few minutes the potatoes had lost a lot of their power. By the end of an hour. There was no energy left to be harvested in the potato. The chemistry behind the potato battery is pretty simple. The acid in the potato has a chemical reaction with the copper in the penny. The power produced travels down through the potato and into the aluminum foil where it will be grounded. When the miter is hooked to the two wires, It completed the circle of energy.
There are other ways to make potato batteries as well. The most common way is to start with a potato, a copper nail, a zinc nail, a meter, and some wire. You start by driving the nails into the potatoes. Next you wrap the wire around the head of both nails. You hook the other end of the wires to the meter and electricity will start to flow. You can also double and triple this method by putting nails in more potatoes and wiring them together with jumper wires. As long as the power can make a full circle it will work.
Essentially everything went well with my demonstration. I was able to produce a small amount of power with nothing but a potato. I also was able to prove the science behind why the demonstration worked. There were also a few things that went wrong. Sometimes the potato wouldn’t have a reaction with the penny because of the Penny being dirty. On occasion the slighter clips wouldn’t work and would slip off the penny or leads on the meter. Not allowing there to be a strong and secure connection and stopping the meter from taking a reading.
Overall I learned a lot of things from this project such as how power is made. I learned about the common ways people around the world get power. I learned a lot about how the world is a better place if there is power and that there are people all over the Wilkes that don’t have access to power. Either through lack of money or the fact that there isn’t even power in their town. We Also about how people can make power in a cleaner way so we don’t hurt the atmosphere. I learned about the plan called zero carbon future. This plan was set in place by the factory’s around the world. The goal is in a few years to be able to take harmful greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere faster than we produce the same gasses.
There are a few ways to get rid of greenhouse gasses. They include planting trees and bamboo, conserving forests and wetlands, and to protect existing carbon gas sinks. Carbon sinks and nature made traps that kill carbon monoxide and turn it into oxygen. These are very rare and are located in a few countries. They’re are a few located in Yellowstone national park in Montana. I also learned that human life revolves around electricity. Without it, nothing would be able to happen. There would be no vehicles, no planes, no phones, literally nothing. Electricity is one of the things that has made the U.S as powerful as it is and without it we would be unable to do anything.
