IA resources

could i investiate how secondary cells deteoriate in potiental energy over time?

Primary Cells

1. Potiential Salt Bridges to use: Sodium sulfate, Na2SO4, or potassium nitrate, KNO3

2. Something like the Daniell cell

3. Cell diagrams are used as a short-hand way to represent primary cells. In this convention, the cathode is always written on the right-hand side and the anode is always written on the le-hand side. The salt bridge is represented by two parallel vertical lines. You can use the following general template to write cell diagrams for metal–ion primary cells:

anode being oxidized | product of oxidation || species being reduced | product of reduction/cathode

Secondary Cells

Here are some IA topic ideas focused on secondary cells (rechargeable batteries) that involve independent and dependent continuous variables:

1. Effect of Temperature on Battery Capacity:

   • Independent Variable: Temperature (°C)

   • Dependent Variable: Capacity (mAh) or Energy (Wh)

   • Experiment: Measure how capacity changes at different temperatures during charge/discharge cycles.

2. Influence of Charge Rate on Cycle Life:

   • Independent Variable: Charge current (A)

   • Dependent Variable: Number of charge/discharge cycles until capacity falls below a certain threshold (e.g., 80% of initial capacity).

   • Experiment: Charge batteries at various rates and track how many cycles each can undergo before significant capacity loss.

3. Impact of Depth of Discharge on Battery Lifespan:

   • Independent Variable: Depth of discharge (%)

   • Dependent Variable: Cycle life (number of cycles)

   • Experiment: Discharge batteries to various depths and measure how many cycles they can complete before failing.

4. Effect of Charging Voltage on Battery Efficiency:

   • Independent Variable: Charging voltage (V)

   • Dependent Variable: Energy efficiency (%), calculated as the ratio of energy output to energy input.

   • Experiment: Charge batteries at different voltages and measure the energy used versus the energy stored.

5. Variation of Internal Resistance with Cycle Number:

   • Independent Variable: Number of charge/discharge cycles

   • Dependent Variable: Internal resistance (Ω) of the battery

   • Experiment: Measure the internal resistance after each cycle to observe how it changes over time.

6. Effect of Electrode Material on Energy Density:

   • Independent Variable: Type of electrode material (e.g., graphite vs. silicon)

   • Dependent Variable: Energy density (Wh/kg)

   • Experiment: Test different electrode materials in similar battery setups and compare their energy densities.

Variables to consider:

• Impedance

• Fuel Gauge

• Columb counter

  • https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/144914/how-does-a-smart-phone-measure-battery-percentage

  • https://www.batteryskills.com/how-to-measure-battery-capacity/#google_vignette

• Self-discharge

  • Unique to Secondary cells.

How does a rechargeable batteries capacity vary from temperature?

• Materials

1. Salt bridge

2. Anode

3. Cathode

4. Wires

5. Electrodes

6. A way of measuring the capacity of batteries.

7. Thermometer.

how does the output of voltage vary as the capacity of the battery changes.

Several different combinations of electrode materials and electrolytes are used, including lead–acid, zinc–air, nickel–cadmium (NiCd), nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), and lithium-ion polymer (Li-ion polymer).

Rechargeable batteryWikipedia

• Apparently charging batteries take a long time

  • Which can be a fun challenge to approach as I would have to find a way to speed up the process. Prefereability with a catalyst.

Cell capacity varies with many factors.

• Internal resistance in the electroysts, electrodes, anotodes, cathodes, etc..

  • Varies depending on the discharge rate.

    • Discharge rate depends on the rate at which the chemicals can move about

• A rechargeable battery cannot be recharged at an arbitrarily high rate. The internal resistance of the battery will produce heat, and excessive temperature rise will damage or destroy a battery.

  • implies i cannot focus on rate

some potiental topics from Copilot:

1. Effect of Temperature on the Voltage Output of a Lithium-Ion Cell:

• Materials: Lithium-ion cell, temperature control chamber, voltmeter, thermometer.

• Procedure:

  1. Set the temperature control chamber to 0°C.

  2. Place the lithium-ion cell inside the chamber.

  3. Measure and record the voltage output of the cell at 0°C.

  4. Gradually increase the temperature in increments of 10°C, up to 80°C.

  5. At each increment, allow the cell to stabilize for 10 minutes before measuring and recording the voltage.

  6. Plot the voltage output against temperature.

3. Effect of Discharge Current on the Voltage Drop of a Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) Cell:

• Materials: NiMH cell, adjustable load resistor, ammeter, voltmeter.

• Procedure:

  1. Set the adjustable load resistor to achieve a discharge current of 0.1A.

  2. Connect the NiMH cell to the circuit with the ammeter and voltmeter.

  3. Discharge the cell at 0.1A and continuously record the voltage drop.

  4. Gradually increase the discharge current in increments of 0.1A, up to 2A.

  5. At each increment, discharge the cell and record the voltage drop.

  6. Plot the voltage drop against discharge current.

4. Influence of Charging Voltage on the Charge Time of a Lithium-Ion Battery:

• Materials: Lithium-ion battery, adjustable power supply, ammeter, voltmeter, stopwatch.

• Procedure:

  1. Set the adjustable power supply to provide a charging voltage of 3.6V.

  2. Connect the lithium-ion battery to the power supply with the ammeter and voltmeter.

  3. Start charging the battery and begin the stopwatch.

  4. Record the time taken to reach full charge.

  5. Increase the charging voltage in increments of 0.1V, up to 4.2V.

  6. At each increment, charge the battery and record the time taken to reach full charge.

  7. Plot the charge time against charging voltage.