Mission Possible - The Voltaic Protocol
A completed electrical circuit using the voltaic cell as a power sourceCopyright 2022 Rice University Office of Stem Engagement, rstem.smugmug.com
Today’s world sees a critical need for self-sustaining battery power. As society becomes more reliant upon renewable energy, there is an increased demand to create and obtain new forms of self-sustaining power. One of the most common forms of renewable energy in use today consist of rechargeable batteries that operate through a series of chemical reactions. These types of reactions can be reproduced by creating a voltaic cell powered by an oxidation-reduction reaction. For this activity, students work in small groups to complete the following objective:
Students design an electrochemical cell powered by redox reactions that will successfully generate enough electrical current to power a series of light bulbs or similar structures/devices.
Chemical and environmental engineers are constantly being challenged to develop new technologies to generate energy and power from limited resources, sometimes including the challenge of self-sustaining technologies. There is also a need to find ways to improve the overall performance of existing technologies without some of the harmful effects from long-term exposure to extreme environmental temperatures. This activity pertains to real-world engineering in challenging students to create a properly operating galvanic cell from a list of given materials and develop a method to optimize this system under various environmental conditions.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Identify the reactants and products of a chemical reaction.
- Describe how a galvanic cell transforms chemical energy into electrical energy.
- Use a galvanic cell to power a device within a simple or complex electrical circuit.
- Use the scientific method to solve a problem within specific qualitative and quantitative constraints.