Lamar
Hurt
Lab assigned 5-9-13
Lab due
5-13-13
10A
chemistry
Ms. Jun
5-9-13,
partners- Jie Wen, Riley, and Ella
Construction
of an Electrochemical Cell
In this
lab we dealt with a voltaic cell. A voltaic cell is where a reaction happens
without out help. There is also a electrolytic cell and for this cell you need
a outside source of energy, or electrical help. These are two very different
cells. In a electrolytic cell the electrons go from cathode to anode. In a
voltaic cell the electrons go from anode to cathode. These cells are very important to not get mixed up. Another word
for a voltaic cell is battery. In this lab we created batteries.
The
purpose of this lab was to create copper zinc voltaic cells that make a
potential difference.
Hypothesis-
If amount of electricity is equal to 1.10 volts, then it would have completed
full potential voltage.
Materials-
Voltmeter, copper, zinc, 1M copper (II)sulfate, 1M zinc(II)sulfate, filter
paper, salt bridge, 1 M sodium sulfate, cotton, alligator chips, and a beaker.
Procedure-
Add copper sulfate to mixture to 1 beaker and the zinc sulfate mixture. Next
gather salt bridge by filling the glass u-tube with sodium sulfate. Next plug
in the ends of u-tube with cotton wool, and put in the mixture. Next record the
results of what appear on a device called a voltmeter which is used to measure
voltage between two points in a electric circuit. Now take out the u-tube and
see what happens to the voltmeter. Now reverse leads on voltmeter.
|
Trial
|
Manipulation
|
volts
|
|
1
|
Move metals
|
0.9
|
|
2
|
Bend metal
|
1.05
|
|
3
|
Add solution
|
1.06
|
|
4
|
Shave metals
|
1.05
|
|
5
|
Pour out some solution
|
1.06
|
Discussion-
After we did trial 1 on the table, we noticed the volts stayed around 1.05/1.06
because we moved the metals. Our hypothesis was not supported. We thought the
voltage would reach to 1.10 volts, and it did not. Maybe we did not wire the
transformer correctly. Maybe we did not put the wires to the secondary side,
and put it on the primary side, which is the low voltage side. These could be
some sources of error and reasons we did not support our hypothesis. Oxidation occurred
in the anode, and reduction occurred in the cathode. Electrons flow from anode
to cathode. The modification most effective in increasing the potential
difference generated by the cell is taking away electrons.
Conclusion-
For this lab we had to create copper zinc voltaic cells that make a potential
difference. This was a good lab to do in my opinion, because we got to create a
battery and discover things about voltage. This was a great a experience
because now we know how to make voltaic cells. We now have knowledge of what to
do and what not to do when making batteries. We used many materials and noticed
differences in the volts during the trials. We got to observe areas throughout
this lab. When we make these in the future it will be much simpler.