Activity

Title Contributor Content Area(s) Grade Level Timeframe Necessary Lab Equipment

Electrochemical Cell Lab (Battery Lab) Phillip Cook Chemistry 9-12 85 minutes For the Pre-lab: Various batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, as well as some Li-ion coin-type cells as well), voltmeter (I prefer using Vernier Logger Pro with a Differential Voltage probe, but use what you have available). Per group of two students: Multimeter or voltmeter; 3 oz. conductive dough; carbon source (2 graphite rods or equivalent); two 10 x 10cm sheets of aluminum foil; 4 wires with alligator clips; various LEDs (red, yellow, orange and blue). Optional: Vernier differential voltage probe with either Lab Quest or Go Link interface.
Chemistry SCI.C.4.6 2010 Determine oxidation states and identify the substances gaining and losing electrons in redox reactions. Integrated Chemistry Physics SCI.CP.6.3 2010 Using the example of electrolysis and its application in batteries, explain the relationship between chemical reactions and electrical energy. SCI.CP.6.4 2010 Define and describe the relationships among voltage, current resistance and power in open and closed electrical circuits. SCI.CP.6.5 2010 Describe the current-flow differences in parallel and series circuits. Physics SCI.P.4.3 2010 Describe electric potential energy and electric potential (i.e., voltage). Use voltage to explain the motion of electrical charges and the resulting electric currents in conductors. SCI.P.4.4 2010 Explain and analyze simple arrangements of electrical components in series and parallel circuits in terms of current, resistance, voltage and power. Use Ohms and Kirchhoffs laws to analyze circuits.

Indiana Standards

Prior Knowledge Goals

Students should be comfortable with balancing equations and writing chemical formulas After this activity, what should students be able to do? (SWBAT) Identify oxidation and reduction processes Determine the standard cell potential of an electrochemical cell Connect one or more electrochemical cells in series Measure the voltage in a circuit Construct a circuit which lights a single light emitting diode

Lesson Plan

Overview: The general overview of the lab activity is as follows: Activity Outline: I. Pre-lab i. Alkaline battery demo ii. Li-ion demo iii. Toy demo II. Lab Activity i. Cu-Zn cell analysis ii. Aluminum-Air battery construction & testing III. Post-Lab IV. Follow-up Discussion Pre-Lab Activity For the pre-lab questions, you will be demonstrating several types of batteries in front of the class. The primary goal here is to get students to understand that the size of a battery does not necessarily determine the voltage produced. A secondary goal is to demonstrate how to connect batteries in a series. Give students time to record their responses to each pre-lab question as you progress through the pre-lab. Begin by showing students how you will measure the voltage of a battery (either with a probe or multimeter). Demonstrate the voltage from an AAA battery. Ask students what they think the voltage of an AA battery will be and why. Then show them the voltage of an AA, C, and D battery. All should be close to 1.5 Volts. Now, switch to the small coin-cell battery. Ask students what voltage they think this battery will produce. Then, measure the voltage (which should be close to 3.0 Volts!) Ask students to explain what they have observed. Allow time for students to record their observations and write explanations. Finally, show them the inner compartment to a small battery powered toy. Illustrate how the batteries are connected in series. Show students the voltage produced by the battery compartment within the toy. Allow time for questions and feedback from students. Answers to Pre-lab Questions
1. Watch your instructor test the voltage from a set of alkaline batteries ranging from a tiny watch battery to a large D battery. What do you notice? What does this tell you about batteries? All batteries have a voltage of 1.5 V. Size of battery does not equate to voltage. 2. Watch now as your instructor takes a lithium ion battery or nickel-cadmium battery and tests its voltage. What do you observe? Why do you think the results are what they are? Li-ion battery has twice the voltage of the alkaline battery. Different redox processes result in different electrochemical potentials (voltages). 3. Take a careful look at the battery compartment from a toy (or in figure 6.2). What do you notice about how the metal pieces (springs, pads) are arranged? Why are the set up this way? Would this toy run on one single battery? Metal connectors put batteries in a +/-/+/- configuration. The voltage in this situation is additive. The toy would not run on a single battery; it would not produce sufficient voltage. 4. Finally, your instructor will show you voltage results for batteries in the storage component. This is called putting batteries in series. In your own words, define the term series. The voltage for a series of batteries is additive.

Fig 6.2

Lab Activity For part A, walk students through the assembly and components involved in the fabrication of a traditional electrochemical cell, using copper, zinc and 1.0 M solutions of Cu(NO3)2 and Zn(NO3)2. Feel free to use a porous cup or a u-tube (youll need 1.0 M KNO3 if using a u-tube) to serve as the salt bridge. The important piece with part A is to establish familiarity with the terms: anode, cathode, salt bridge, electrolyte, e- flow. Allow students ample time to diagram and take notes on this setup. This is a great time to show how to measure the potential (voltage) of the cell as well. For part B, dismiss students into groups of two to work on assembling aluminum-oxygen cells using the materials available at their lab stations. Be prepared for students to ask for your help in troubleshooting. Common issues include shorting of batteries through aluminum foil contact with the carbon and improper wiring of circuit and LED within circuit (the Figure 1: Student Lab Materials LONG leg of the LED should be connected to the cathode (carbon)). Once students finish making and measuring their cells, they can join with another group to attempt to power additional LEDs or toys that you provide. Figure 2 shows an image of what a correctly constructed battery looks like. Used dough can be recycled if you use carbon rods. Dough should be returned to an airtight container. Figure 2: An assembled battery Post-Lab Once students have finished and cleaned up, dismiss them to work on the analyzing questions. Access to a digital text reader or computer will be helpful at this point so that students can begin to read the CK-12 Flexbook on Electrochemical Cells, which should prove very helpful in their processing of the lab activity they have just finished. Analyzing Answers
1. All hair dryers, shavers, and other electrical appliances that are often used in the bathroom, come with labels mandated by the government, saying not to operate the appliance while taking a bath. a) From what you know about solutions and conductivity, why would it be dangerous to use an appliance while bathing? Typical water contains dissolved ionic solutes and conducts electricity, posing a shock hazard. b) Distilled water does not conduct electricity. If you were to take a bath in distilled water, would you be safe to use an electrical appliance while bathing? Explain. Distilled water contains no ions and therefore would be a very weak electrical conductor. While your risk of shock is minimized, electrons will conduct if the current is high enough. 2. Edit the picture of the battery you built in experimenting. a) Show how you would connect the LED to this circuit by drawing the LED and wires to connect to the electrodes. LEDs have different length wires on them (you may not have noticed). The long electrode is the cathode. Make sure to distinguish the two parts of the LED. Drawing should show carbon labeled as cathode and connected to the long LED wire; Al is the anode and should be connected to the short LED wire. b) Label each of these parts: aluminum half-cell, oxygen half-cell, aluminum metal electrode, activated charcoal electrode, electrolyte, LED. Self-explanitory c) Reread the CK-12 Flexbook section entitled Electrochemical Cells. Draw arrows on your drawing to indicate

the path that negatively charged particles flow in the battery. Electrons flow from anode to cathode, or in this case from aluminum to carbon through the wire. Note: electrons do NOT move through the dough, only ions. 3. You are probably familiar with using regular AA, C or D-cell batteries (not the rechargeable kind). Batteries eventually die and produce no more voltage. Why? A battery dies when the oxidation-reduction process has ended, as when there is no more material to be oxidized. The Al-oxygen battery will cease working once one of the following criteria occurs: a. All of the aluminum is oxidized. b. Oxygen is depleted from the air. c. Insufficient ions are present in the dough to maintain a charge balance. 4. Using the given standard reduction potentials below, determine the standard cell potential of an aluminum-oxygen cell. Al(OH)3 + 3e Al + 3OH O2 + 2H2O + 4e 4OH

Ered = -1.66 V Ered = -0.40 V

The cell potential should be 1.26 V. The positive cell potential indicates a spontaneous reaction. 5. Predict a metal half-cell that you could replace the aluminum half-cell within your battery and produce more voltage. Explain the reasoning behind your prediction. Aluminum could be replaced with any more active metal from the activity series. 6. Explain why, when constructing your aluminum-oxygen batteries, you should not allow the aluminum foil to directly contact the carbon rod. When the aluminum foil contacts the carbon rod, a short circuit is created. Electrons will follow the path of least resistance; in this case it is easier for the e- to travel from the foil to the rod than it is to travel from the foil, through the wire and attached LED and then reach the carbon rod.

Follow-up Discussion At the next class session, go over the analyzing questions, and assign the critical thinking questions. It is helpful to have student groups present and defend their answers to the analyzing questions; Ive found that whiteboarding these prompts is very helpful. Safety Considerations: The conductive dough is safe to handle with bare hands. Unlike many other labs using LEDs, no resistor is needed (the dough conducts with sufficient resistance to prevent LED burnout). If you use powdered carbon sources, please consult the accompanying MSDS information for proper lab safety. Activity Setup: At each lab station, set out materials. Make sure that the conductive dough is stored within a Ziploc bag or other airtight storage container. Providing pre-cut foil sheets speeds assembly of batteries allowing more time for active investigation. Students should work initially in groups of two for the first portions of the lab activity. Once they have created their batteries, they can then form larger groups of four in order to have more batteries to try to operate additional motors, LEDs, etc. Notes for the Instructor: If you are using activated charcoal or any powdered form of carbon, be prepared for a very messy activity. The dough will not be reusable if powdered carbon sources are used. References/Resources: Lab Handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/101457911/Battery-Lab

CK-12 Flexbook on Electrochemical Cells: http://www.scribd.com/doc/101653425 Directions on how to make conductive dough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEWpjk9ad4U Directions on how to make a burrito battery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES4SZjM8cOk For additional information and ideas regarding the use of conductive dough, please check out the Squishy Circuits website at the University of St. Thomas: http://courseweb.stthomas.edu/apthomas/SquishyCircuits/