Effect of Electrolyte and Number of Cells on the Voltage of a Zinc-Copper
Battery Assembly
This experiment desired to see if using an electrolyte that does not crystalize in the air (hydrochloric acid) could be a competitive alternative to potassium hydroxide, an electrolyte that does crystalize, in order to protect devices from the difficult cleaning methods of crystals on sensitive device parts. This experiment involved constructing a zinc-copper battery in order to test if different electrolytes (hydrochloric acid or potassium hydroxide) and different cell counts (1-cell, 2-cell, or 3-cell) would create a significant difference in the voltages between the batteries. It was determined that an HCl battery, along with a 3-cell design, produced a greater voltage than KOH battery and 1- or 2-cell designs. However, the data was, overall, very inconsistent, especially for HCl batteries, implying that either hydrochloric acid is either too inconsistent for a reliable electrolyte, or the experimental design was rather poor for collecting data. This means that it is possible for HCl batteries to be better than KOH, but that a more reliable and efficiently designed experiment would have to be made for a sufficient statement.
Research Conducted By:
Ryan Mahlmeister
Warren Mott High School
Joshua O’Bannon-Liggins
Warren Mott High School
Warren Consolidated Schools