The history of the creation of the battery. History of inventions. Batteries Not a battery, but a storage chamber
School scientific and practical conference
youth and schoolchildren
"Search. The science. Opening."
city of Novocheboksarsk
Nikolaev Alexander
student of class 5A of Municipal Educational Institution “Secondary School No. 13”
city of Novocheboksarsk
Scientific adviser:
Komissarova Natalya Ivanovna,
Physics teacher, Municipal Educational Institution "Secondary School No. 13"
Novocheboksarsk, 2011
2. History of the creation of the battery…..…………………………………………………… 3-5
3. Battery structure.. ………………………………………………………………………………… 5
4. Experiment……………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
5. About the use of fruits and vegetables to generate electricity. ................ 7
6. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………... 8
7. Used literature……………………………………………………….. 8
Introduction
Our work is devoted to unusual energy sources.
Chemical current sources play a very important role in the world around us. They are used in mobile phones and spaceships, in cruise missiles and laptops, in cars, flashlights and ordinary toys. Every day we come across batteries, accumulators, fuel cells.
We first read about the non-traditional use of fruits in Nikolai Nosov’s book. According to the writer's plan, Shorty Vintik and Shpuntik, who lived in the Flower City, created a car that ran on soda with syrup. And then we thought, what if vegetables and fruits keep some other secrets? As a result, we wanted to learn as much as possible about the unusual properties of vegetables and fruits.
The purpose of our work is the study of the electrical properties of fruits and vegetables.
We have set ourselves the following tasks:
1 Get to know the battery design and its inventors.
2. Find out what processes take place inside the battery.
3. Experimentally determine the voltage inside the “tasty” battery and the current generated by it.
4. Assemble a circuit consisting of several such batteries and try to light a light bulb.
5. Find out whether vegetable and fruit batteries are used in practice.
History of the battery
The first chemical source of electric current was invented by accident, at the end of the 17th century, by the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani. In fact, the goal of Galvani’s research was not at all the search for new sources of energy, but the study of the reaction of experimental animals to various external influences. In particular, the phenomenon of the generation and flow of current was discovered when strips of two different metals were attached to the frog's leg muscle. Galvani gave an incorrect theoretical explanation for the observed process.
Galvani's experiments became the basis for the research of another Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta. He formulated the main idea of the invention. The cause of electric current is a chemical reaction in which metal plates take part. To confirm his theory, Volta created a simple device. It consisted of zinc and copper plates immersed in a container with saline solution. As a result, the zinc plate (cathode) began to dissolve, and gas bubbles appeared on the copper steel (anode). Volta suggested and proved that an electric current flows through a wire. Somewhat later, the scientist assembled an entire battery from series-connected elements, thanks to which he was able to significantly increase the output voltage.
It was this device that became the world's first battery and the progenitor of modern batteries. And batteries in honor of Luigi Galvani are now called galvanic cells.
Just a year after this, in 1803, Russian physicist Vasily Petrov assembled the most powerful chemical battery, consisting of 4,200 copper and zinc electrodes, to demonstrate the electric arc. The output voltage of this monster reached 2500 volts. However, there was nothing fundamentally new in this “voltaic column”.
In 1836, English chemist John Daniel improved the Voltaic element by placing zinc and copper electrodes in a solution of sulfuric acid. This design became known as the "Daniel element".
In 1859, French physicist Gaston Plante invented the lead-acid battery. This type of cell is still used in car batteries today.
The beginning of the industrial production of primary chemical current sources was laid in 1865 by the Frenchman J. L. Leclanche, who proposed a manganese-zinc cell with a salt electrolyte.
In 1890, in New York, Conrad Hubert, an immigrant from Russia, creates the first pocket electric flashlight. And already in 1896, the National Carbon company began mass production of the world's first dry elements, Leclanche "Columbia". The longest-lived voltaic cell is the zinc-sulfur battery, manufactured in London in 1840.
Until 1940, the manganese-zinc salt cell was practically the only chemical current source used.
Despite the subsequent appearance of other primary current sources with higher characteristics, the manganese-zinc salt cell is used on a very wide scale, largely due to its relatively low price.
Modern chemical current sources use:
as a reducing agent (at the anode) - lead Pb, cadmium Cd, zinc Zn and other metals;
as an oxidizing agent (at the cathode) - lead(IV) oxide PbO2, nickel hydroxide NiOOH, manganese(IV) oxide MnO2 and others;
as an electrolyte - solutions of alkalis, acids or salts.
Battery device
Modern galvanic cells have little in common externally with the device created by Alessandro Volta, but the basic principle has remained unchanged. Batteries produce and store electricity. There are three main parts inside the dry cell that powers the device. This is a negative electrode (-), a positive electrode (+) and an electrolyte located between them, which is a mixture of chemicals. Chemical reactions cause electrons to flow from the negative electrode through the device and then back to the positive electrode. Thanks to this, the device works. As the chemicals are used up, the battery runs out.
The battery case, which is made of zinc, can be covered on the outside with cardboard or plastic. There are chemicals in the form of a paste inside the case, and some batteries have a carbon core in the middle. If the battery's power drops, it means the chemicals have been used up and the battery is no longer able to produce electricity.
Recharging such batteries is impossible or very wasteful (for example, to charge some types of batteries you will have to spend tens of times more energy than they can store, while other types can accumulate only a small part of their original charge). After this, all you have to do is throw the battery in the trash.
Most modern batteries were developed already in the 20th century in the laboratories of large companies or universities.
experimental part
Scientists say that if the power goes out at your home, you can light your home for a while using lemons. After all, there is electricity in any fruit and vegetable, since they charge us humans with energy when consumed.
But we are not used to taking everyone’s word for it, so we decided to test it experimentally. So, to create a “delicious” battery, we took:
lemon, apple, onion, raw and boiled potatoes;
several copper plates from the electrostatics kit - this will be our positive pole;
galvanized plates from the same set - to create a negative pole;
wires, clamps;
millivoltmeters, voltmeters
ammeters.
a light bulb on a stand, designed for a voltage of 2.5 V and a current of 0.16A.
We entered the results of the experiment into a table.
Conclusion: the voltage between the electrodes is approximately the same. And the magnitude of the current is probably related to the acidity of the product. The greater the acidity, the greater the current.
If you use boiled rather than raw potatoes, the power of the device will increase 4 times.
We decided to investigate how voltage and current depend on the distance between the electrodes. To do this, they took a boiled potato, changed the distance between the anode and the cathode, and measured the voltage and current on the battery. The results of the experiment were entered into a table.
|
Distance between electrodes, cm |
Voltage between electrodes, V |
Short circuit current, mA |
|
1 |
0,6 |
2,1 |
|
2,5 |
0,7 |
3,6 |
|
3,5 |
0,7 |
3,8 |
|
5 |
0,8 |
4,2 |
Conclusion: The voltage between the electrodes and the current increase with increasing distance between them. The short circuit current is small because The internal resistance of potatoes is high.
Next, we decided to make a battery of two, three, four potatoes. Having previously increased the distance between the electrodes to the maximum, they connected the potatoes in series in the circuit. The results of the experiment were entered into a table.
Conclusion: The voltage at the battery terminals increases and the current decreases. The current is too low to light the bulb.
Therefore, we plan to further find out in what ways we can increase the current in the circuit and make the light bulb glow.
We have been watching our “delicious” batteries for some time. The results of the measured voltage on the batteries were entered into the table:
Conclusion: gradually the voltage on all the “delicious” batteries decreases. There is still tension on the apple, onion and boiled potato.
While removing the copper and zinc plates from the vegetables and fruits, we noticed that they were heavily oxidized. This means that the acid reacted with zinc and copper. Due to this chemical reaction, a very weak electric current flowed.
About the use of fruits and vegetables to generate electricity.
Recently, Israeli scientists have invented a new source of environmentally friendly electricity. The researchers proposed using boiled potatoes as a source of energy for the unusual battery, since the power of the device in this case would increase 10 times compared to raw potatoes. Such unusual batteries can work for several days and even weeks, and the electricity they generate is 5-50 times cheaper than that obtained from traditional batteries and at least six times more economical than a kerosene lamp when used for lighting.
Indian scientists have decided to use fruits, vegetables and their waste to power simple household appliances. The batteries contain a paste made from processed bananas, orange peels and other vegetables or fruits, in which zinc and copper electrodes are placed. The new product is designed primarily for residents of rural areas, who can prepare their own fruit and vegetable ingredients to recharge unusual batteries.
Conclusions:
1 We got acquainted with the device of the battery and its inventors.
2. We found out what processes take place inside the battery.
3. Made vegetable and fruit batteries
4. Learned to determine the voltage inside the “tasty” battery and the current created by it.
5. We noticed that the voltage between the electrodes and the current increase with increasing distance between them. The short circuit current is small because The internal resistance of the battery is high.
6. We discovered that the voltage at the terminals of a battery made up of several vegetables increases, and the current decreases. The current is too low to light the bulb.
7. They couldn’t light a light bulb in the assembled circuit, because current is low.
References:
1 Encyclopedic Dictionary of a Young Physicist. -M.: Pedagogy, 1991
2 O. F. Kabardin. Reference materials on physics.-M.: Education 1985.
3 Encyclopedic Dictionary of Young Technicians. -M.: Pedagogy, 1980.
4 Magazine “Science and Life”, No. 10 2004.
5 A.K. Kikoin, I.K. Kikoin. Electrodynamics.-M.: Nauka 1976.
6 Kirilova I. G. A book for reading on physics. - Moscow: Education 1986.
7 Magazine “Science and Life”, No. 11 2005.
8 N.V. Gulia. Amazing physics.-Moscow: Publishing House NTs ENAS, 2005
Internet resource.
Take a look around. Almost all small-sized electrical devices that surround us in everyday life have a portable power supply in their circuitry - simply put, a battery. Be it a mobile phone, TV remote control, wall or table clock, calculator, etc.
All these devices are inoperative without a battery or accumulator. So let's take a look at the history of the discovery of this little miracle device. The first chemical element was invented at the end of the 18th century by the Italian scientist Luigi Galvani, completely by accident. The scientist conducted research on the reactions of animals to various types of exposure to them.
When he attached two strips of different metals to a frog's leg, he discovered the flow of current between them. Although Galvani did not give a correct explanation of this process, his experience served as the basis for the research of another Italian scientist Alessandro Volta. He revealed that the cause of the current is a chemical reaction between two different metals in a certain environment.
Volta placed two plates in a container with a saline solution: zinc and copper. This device became the world's first autonomous chemical element. Volta subsequently improved his design, creating the famous “ Voltaic pole”(Appendix. Photo).
In 859, the French scientist Gaston Plante created a battery that used lead plates immersed in a weak solution of sulfuric acid. This battery was charged with a direct current source, and then began to generate electricity itself, giving out almost all the electricity spent on charging. Moreover, this could be done many times. This is how the first battery appeared.
2. Questionnaire about batteries in our lives
In order to get an answer to all these questions, I conducted a survey:
I asked parents and high school students to answer the questions in my questionnaire. 32 people were interviewed
Question 1: What guides you when buying batteries?
(Appendix Table 1)
Most respondents pay attention to the manufacturer when purchasing batteries.
Question 2: What devices do you use batteries for?
(Appendix Table 2)
Most people use batteries in remote controls and clocks.
Electric batteries are a very useful thing. If they weren’t there, then the toys would have to be plugged into the outlet and get tangled in the wires; besides, the electric current from the network is not suitable for toys; a special box would also be needed to correct it.
Batteries do not have the same power as the electricity that comes into our homes, but they can be transported from place to place, and can also be used as an emergency source of energy when the network is cut off.
Question 3: What do you do with used batteries?
(Appendix Table 3)
Most people throw away batteries, some use chargers.
Question 4: How can I extend the battery life?
(Appendix Table 4)
Almost half of those surveyed do not know how to extend battery life.
Conclusions from the survey:
1. Electric batteries are a very useful thing. They give toys and other useful things independence and autonomy.
2. Every home has devices that require batteries.
3. When purchasing batteries, the majority of respondents are guided by price and brand.
4. Most people don’t know how to extend the battery life and therefore immediately throw them away.
Modern life is dominated by electricity, which is everywhere. It’s scary to even think what would happen if suddenly all electrical appliances suddenly disappeared or failed. Power plants of various types, scattered around the world, regularly supply current to electrical networks that power devices in production and at home. However, a person is designed in such a way that he is never satisfied with what he has. Being tied by a wire to an electrical outlet is too inconvenient. The salvation in this situation is devices that supply current to electric flashlights, mobile phones, cameras and other devices that are used away from the source of electricity. Even small children know their name - batteries.
Strictly speaking, the everyday name “battery” is not entirely correct. It combines several types of electricity sources designed to autonomously power the device. This can be a single galvanic cell, a battery, or a combination of several such cells into a battery to increase the voltage removed. It was this connection that gave rise to the name familiar to our ears.
Batteries, both galvanic cells and accumulators, are a chemical source of electrical current. The first such source was invented, as often happens in science, by accident by the Italian physician and physiologist Luigi Galvani at the end of the 18th century.
Although electricity as a phenomenon has been known to mankind since ancient times, for many centuries these observations did not have any practical application. Only in 1600 did the English physicist William Gilbert publish the scientific work “On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and the Great Earth Magnet,” which summarized the then-known data on electricity and magnetism, and in 1650 Otto von Guericke created the electrostatic a machine that was a sulfur ball mounted on a metal rod. A century later, the Dutchman Pieter van Musschenbroeck was the first to accumulate a small amount of electricity using the first capacitor “Leyden jar”. However, it was too small to conduct serious experiments. Scientists such as Benjamin Franklin, Georg Richmann, and John Walsh studied “natural” electricity. It was the latter’s work on electric stingrays that interested Galvani.
Now no one will remember the real goal of Galvani’s famous experiment, which revolutionized physiology and forever inscribed his name in science. Galvani dissected the frog and placed it on the table where the electrostatic machine stood. His assistant accidentally touched the exposed femoral nerve of the frog with the tip of a scalpel and the dead muscle suddenly contracted. Another assistant noted that this only happens when a spark is removed from the car.
Inspired by the discovery, Galvani began to methodically investigate the discovered phenomenon - the ability of a dead drug to demonstrate vital contractions under the influence of electricity. After conducting a series of experiments, Galvani obtained a particularly interesting result using copper hooks and a silver plate. If the hook holding the paw touched the plate, the paw, touching the plate, immediately contracted and rose. Having lost contact with the plate, the muscles of the paw immediately relaxed, it again fell onto the plate, contracted again and rose.
Luigi Galvani. Magazine illustration. France. 1880
So, as a result of a series of painstaking experiments, a new source of electricity was discovered. Galvani himself, however, did not think that the cause of the phenomenon he discovered was the contact of dissimilar metals. In his opinion, the source of the current was the muscle itself, which was excited by the action of the brain transmitted through the nerves. Galvani's discovery created a sensation and led to many experiments in various branches of science. Among the followers of the Italian physiologist was his compatriot, physicist Alessandro Volta.
In 1800, Volta not only gave the correct explanation for the phenomenon discovered by Galvani, but also designed a device that became the world's first artificial chemical source of electric current, the progenitor of all modern batteries. It consisted of two electrodes, an anode containing an oxidizing agent and a cathode containing a reducing agent, in contact with an electrolyte (a solution of salt, acid or alkali). The potential difference that arose between the electrodes corresponded in this case to the free energy of the redox reaction (electrolysis), during which the electrolyte cations (positively charged ions) are reduced and the anions (negatively charged ions) are oxidized at the corresponding electrodes. The reaction can only begin if the electrodes are connected by an external circuit (Volta connected them with an ordinary wire), through which free electrons pass from the cathode to the anode, thus creating a discharge current. And although modern batteries have little in common with the Volta device, the principle of their operation remains unchanged: these are two electrodes immersed in an electrolyte solution and connected by an external circuit.
Volta's invention gave significant impetus to research related to electricity. In the same year, scientists William Nicholson and Anthony Carlyle used electrolysis to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen, and a little later Humphry Davy discovered potassium metal in the same way.
Galvani's experiments with a frog. Engraving 1793
But first of all, galvanic cells are undoubtedly the most important source of electric current. From the middle of the 19th century, when the first electrical appliances appeared, the mass production of chemical batteries began.
All these elements can be divided into two main types: primary, in which the chemical reaction is irreversible, and secondary, which can be recharged.
What we used to call a battery is a primary chemical source of current, in other words, a non-rechargeable element. The first batteries put into mass production were manganese-zinc batteries with a salt and then a thickened electrolyte, invented in 1865 by the Frenchman Georges Leclanche. Until the early 1940s, this was practically the only type of galvanic cells used, which, due to its low cost, is still widespread today. Such batteries are called dry cells or carbon-zinc cells.
A giant electric battery designed by W. Wollaston for the experiments of H. Davy.
Scheme of operation of an artificial chemical current source by A. Volta.
In 1803, Vasily Petrov created the world's most powerful voltaic pole, using 4,200 metal circles. He managed to develop a voltage of 2500 volts, and also discovered such an important phenomenon as the electric arc, which later began to be used in electric welding, as well as for electric fuses of explosives.
But the real technological breakthrough was the advent of alkaline batteries. Although their chemical composition is not particularly different from Leclanchet elements, and their rated voltage is increased slightly compared to dry elements, due to a fundamental change in design, alkaline elements can last four to five times longer than dry elements, however, subject to certain conditions.
The most important task in the development of batteries is to increase the specific capacity of the cell while reducing its size and weight. To achieve this, new chemical systems are constantly being searched for. The most high-tech primary cells today are lithium. Their capacity is twice that of dry cells, and their service life is significantly longer. In addition, while dry and alkaline batteries discharge gradually, lithium batteries maintain voltage for almost their entire service life and only then suddenly lose it. But even the best battery cannot match the efficiency of a rechargeable battery, the principle of which is based on the reversibility of a chemical reaction.
People began to think about the possibility of creating such a device back in the 19th century. In 1859, the Frenchman Gaston Plante invented the lead-acid battery. The electric current in it arises as a result of the reactions of lead and lead dioxide in a sulfuric acid environment. During the generation of current, a discharged battery consumes sulfuric acid, forming lead sulfate and water. To charge it, current from another source must be passed through the circuit in the opposite direction, and the water will be used to form sulfuric acid, releasing lead and lead dioxide.
Despite the fact that the principle of operation of such a battery was described quite a long time ago, its mass production began only in the 20th century, since recharging the device requires a high voltage current, as well as compliance with a number of other conditions. With the development of electrical networks, lead-acid batteries have become indispensable and are still used today in cars, trolleybuses, trams and other electric vehicles, as well as for emergency power supply.
Many small household appliances also run on “refillable batteries,” rechargeable batteries that have the same shape as non-renewable voltaic cells. The development of electronics directly depends on advances in this area.
Battery element J. Leclanche.
Dry battery.
Mobile phone, digital camera, navigator, mobile computer and other similar devices in the 21st century. This won’t surprise anyone, but their appearance became possible only with the invention of high-quality compact batteries, the capacity and service life of which are being increased every year.
Nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries were the first to replace galvanic cells. Their significant drawback was the “memory effect” - a decrease in capacity if charging was carried out when the battery was not completely discharged. In addition, they gradually lost charge even when there was no load. These problems were largely addressed by the development of lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries, which are now commonly used in mobile devices. Their capacity is much higher, they charge without loss at any time and hold the charge well in the standby state.
Several years ago, rumors leaked to the media that American scientists were close to inventing an “eternal battery” of a betavoltaic cell, the energy source of which is radioactive isotopes emitting beta particles. It is assumed that such an energy source will allow a mobile phone or laptop to operate without recharging for up to 30 years. Moreover, at the end of its service life, the non-toxic and non-radioactive battery will remain absolutely safe. The appearance of this miracle device, which, without a doubt, would have revolutionized the industry, would have hit the pockets of manufacturers of traditional batteries very hard, which is why it is still not on the shelves.
A modern device for charging rechargeable AA batteries.
Who is who in the world of discoveries and inventions Sitnikov Vitaly Pavlovich
Who invented the battery?
Who invented the battery?
A battery is a chemical source of current.
Electricity is generated in it as a result of a chemical redox reaction. If the battery stops working or, as they say, “dead,” this means that it has exhausted its supply of chemical energy.
The chemical current source was invented by the Italian scientist A. Volta (1745–1827). He stacked copper and zinc mugs alternately in a column, insulated with felt pads. Since then, the element has been called that: a voltaic column. Nowadays, dry batteries are used for household needs. They are filled with a paste-like electrolyte. The most common galvanic element is the Leclanche element (invented in 1865 by the French scientist J. Leclanche). It is filled with a liquid electrolyte (potassium or zinc chloride), which significantly speeds up the chemical reaction. The element produces low voltage direct current and is widely used in watches, radio equipment, etc.
This text is an introductory fragment.Today it is very difficult to imagine your life without electrical devices. Moreover, we are not even talking about large household appliances, but about small-sized devices that make life much more comfortable. Wall clocks, remote controls, flashlights and many other small devices that we are so accustomed to are powered by a portable battery. To ensure their stable operation, you just need buy rechargeable batteries. But this power source appeared not so long ago!
History of the battery
The first step towards the appearance of a battery was taken by a scientist from Italy, Luigi Galvani, who studied the reactions of living organisms to various influences. The essence of his discovery was that a current passes through a frog's leg when two strips of different types of metal are attached to it. The scientist was unable to explain what he saw, but the results of his work were very useful to another researcher, Alessandro Volta. 
This Italian was able to unravel the essence of the process and realized that the appearance of current is facilitated by a chemical reaction that occurs between different metals in a certain environment. By placing a zinc and copper plate in a salt solution, he created the world's first battery of primary cells, which, after further development, he called the “Volta Column”. This was in 1800.
The first battery appeared much later - in 1859, when the Frenchman Gaston Plante repeated his colleague's experiment using a weak solution of sulfuric acid and two lead plates. The peculiarity of this battery was that it required recharging from a direct current source, and then itself gave the resulting charge to create electricity.
Other important dates in the history of battery development
1865 - French scientist J.L. Leclanche developed a manganese-zinc cell with saline solution.
1880 - F. Lalande improved the invention of his compatriot using a thickened electrolyte.
40s of the XX century - silver-zinc elements were developed.
50s of the XX century - a manganese-zinc element with an alkaline solution appeared, as well as mercury-zinc elements.
60s of the 20th century - production of zinc air batteries began.
70s of the XX century - lithium current sources were used for the first time.