You Have the Power
Thermochemistry Project
For this thermochemistry project, each group of four had to design a device that converts one form of energy into another form and construct a plan for it. Our main driving question was: How can we convert Chemical Energy to another form of useful energy and how can we measure the amount of energy transferred between two or more components?
Each group had the chose to choose from 8 different forms of energy: electrical, light, sound, thermal (heat), gravitational potential, chemical, kinetic (movement), and elastic.
Directions (what we needed to do)
My group had to identify what scientific principles provide the basis for the energy conversion design and the forms of energy that will be converted from one form to another in the designed system. We also had to consider the forms of energy that will be converted from one form to another in the designed system and identify the losses of energy by the design system to the surrounding environment. Describing the scientific rationale for choices of materials and structure of the device, including how experimental evidence influenced the design. After considering all these factors, our group came to a decision that we were gonna base our project off of creating an energy powered music box. We used scientific knowledge to generate the design, refine, and start to construct it.The first step was to build and test the device according to the plan. We then had to systematically and quantitatively evaluate the performance of the device against the criteria and constraints. Using the results of the tests improved our devices performance by increasing the efficiency of energy conversion and noting any modifications in trade-offs.
Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy & matter flows: into, out of, and within that system. Energy has the power to manifest itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms; for example, thermal energy in the surrounding environment.
Each group had the chose to choose from 8 different forms of energy: electrical, light, sound, thermal (heat), gravitational potential, chemical, kinetic (movement), and elastic.
Directions (what we needed to do)
My group had to identify what scientific principles provide the basis for the energy conversion design and the forms of energy that will be converted from one form to another in the designed system. We also had to consider the forms of energy that will be converted from one form to another in the designed system and identify the losses of energy by the design system to the surrounding environment. Describing the scientific rationale for choices of materials and structure of the device, including how experimental evidence influenced the design. After considering all these factors, our group came to a decision that we were gonna base our project off of creating an energy powered music box. We used scientific knowledge to generate the design, refine, and start to construct it.The first step was to build and test the device according to the plan. We then had to systematically and quantitatively evaluate the performance of the device against the criteria and constraints. Using the results of the tests improved our devices performance by increasing the efficiency of energy conversion and noting any modifications in trade-offs.
Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy & matter flows: into, out of, and within that system. Energy has the power to manifest itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms; for example, thermal energy in the surrounding environment.
Evidence:
This photo shows my group's "music box" that we cut out of a birthday card to project sound from the battery motored generator.
At first, my group was going to conduct an energy experiment using solar panels to make the music play from the card motor. The first problem was we couldn’t find enough light to generate our solar panel. When we did this experiment, it was raining so we had no production of sun, so our group resorted to using all of our phones flashlights. We tracked the energy the light produced when we added each flashlight directly to the solar panel one by one. We went through a fair amount of testing for the power source like testing of the solar panel with our phone lights, the produce (potato, grapefruit, lemon), and we weren't able to test it connected to the box, due to it being misplaced or stolen by another class.
Our group met with failure when we burned out LEDś and misconnected many connections on the breadboard. Also, we had our music box stolen, and had to make do with a card´s speaker. In trying to connect the speaker to the breadboard, the connection wasn't very solid. We were then given optimal settings and the right connections, using grapefruits, so we decided to stick with that experiment.
To start off the project, we considered our pooled interests in music and went off of that, considering the following projections of energy: a speaker system, music box, and a microphone.
And for the source, we considered:
- Produce Batteries
- Chemical Wires
- Solar Panels
- Chemical Battery
We had many segments to the process to focus on for example:
- Chemical Energy - Potato/Lemon/Grapefruit Battery / Photovoltaic Panel
- Electrical Energy - See Above
- Mechanical Energy - Motor/Music Box
- Magnetic Energy - Motor Magnets
- Sound Energy - Music Box’s Noise
We conjectured that we’d lose a ton of energy due to unfavorable weather conditions, so our solar panel wouldn’t be ideal to transfer energy. This led us to change the chemical batteries of different substances, investigating potatoes, lemons, and grapefruits. The following is a table documenting the voltage levels we obtained from each, on average.
At this point, we knew our goal, and wanted to begin construction. Before construction, we had to make decisions about what resources we would use and in what manner. In the beginning, we thought that using a photovoltaic cell (solar panel) would be the best choice, but it would be affected by the environment. We thought that using produce batteries would be the most effective, as they’d be cheap to get and we could have more of them, as opposed to multiple solar panels which might be more difficult to wire together and lay out. With the produce, order didn’t matter.
The music box started to work when our group used batteries, citrus juice, and its rind to test it for its amount of energy. We tested this so see if the box had enough energy to make the motor we used to turn. The music box did work and performed very well. It was hard to test the solar panel because our group couldn´t find a big enough source of energy; there haven't been days sunny enough, yet. Due to there being no sunlight, we resorted to using multiple flashlights to reflect off the solar panel to create up a volt of energy; the conversion was very inefficient, so we decided to only implement it as a backup.
Content:
thermochemistry- the branch of chemistry concerned with the quantities of heat evolved or absorbed during chemical reactions.
energy- power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources, especially to provide light and heat or to work machines.
voltmeter- an instrument used for measuring electrical potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in proportion to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters give a numerical display of voltage by use of an analog to digital converter.
volt- the SI unit of electromotive force, the difference of potential that would drive one ampere of current against one ohm resistance.
solar panel- a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating.
battery- a container consisting of one or more cells, in which chemical energy is converted into electricity and used as a source of power.
energy forms- examples of these are: light energy, heat energy, mechanical energy, gravitational energy, electrical energy, sound energy, chemical energy nuclear, and atomic energy. Each form can get changed into the other forms.
chemical energy- stored in the bonds of chemical compounds, like atoms and molecules and is released when a chemical reaction takes place.
music box- a small box that plays a tune, typically when the lid is opened. A traditional music box contains a cylinder, turned by clockwork, with projecting teeth that pluck a row of tuned metal strips as it revolves.
LED- a light-emitting diode (a semiconductor diode which glows when a voltage is applied).
chemical wires- used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals.
fallible system- an error in a system