JCE Online Journal of Chemical Education
 | Subscriptions  | Software Orders  | Support  | Contributors  | Advertisers  | 

JCE Print
   Current Issue
 Previous Issues
 Supplements
 Search JCE Index

JCE Digital Library
   DigiDemos
 QBank
 SymMath
 WebWare

JCE Software
   Latest Releases
 Software & Video
 Downloads
 Support

Only@JCE Online
   JCE Online Store
 JCE HS CLIC
 JCE Discussion Forums
   Biographical Snapshots
 ChemEd Resource Shelf
 Featured Molecules
 Hal's Picks
 Project Chemlab
 Reviewed WWW Sites
 "Web-Ed" Articles

About JCE
   Features
 Publications
 Operations
 Outreach
 Contact Us


  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2002  > July  >
In the Laboratory
Why Do Some Batteries Last Longer Than Others?
Michael J. Smith
Departamento de Química, Universidade do Minho, Largo do Paço, 4700-320 Braga, Portugal

Colin A. Vincent
School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, Fife, KY 16 9ST, Scotland

Cover
July 2002
Vol. 79 No. 7
p. 851
Abstract
The criteria used by manufacturers to determine the market price of a commercial product are often only indirectly related to what the consumer recognizes as important. This is certainly true of the battery industry; the most expensive battery or cell does not always provide the best service. Even when the electrochemical basis for energy conversion is apparently the same, cells produced by different manufacturers often provide markedly different quantities of energy. In this experiment samples of cathode composite are removed from commercial cells and their electrochemical performance is compared using a test cell and identical discharge conditions. The results confirm that the cell with the most energy does not always have the highest price and suggest that some cell manufacturers may attribute a higher priority to other aspects of performance (power, shelf-life or resistance to abuse, for example), which increase the price without improving the quantity of deliverable energy. The objective of the experiment described in this paper is to provide information that gives the chemically aware consumer a frame of reference for future choice of cells and contributes to an improved understanding of the structure and operational basis of primary cells based on the Leclanché system.
Supplement
Instructions for students and notes for the instructor are available.
*  Contents JCE2002p0851W.doc (Microsoft Word)
*  Download
JCE2002p0851W.pdf

JCE2002p0851W.zip

JCE2002p0851W.sit
More Information
*  Citation
 Smith, Michael J.; Vincent, Colin A. J. Chem. Educ. 2002 79 851.
*  Keywords
 Electrochemistry; energy conversion*; Physical Chemistry; primary batteries*
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 June 17, 2002
March 16, 2005
<< Previous Article Table of Contents Next Article >>
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2002  > July  > Page 851


Subscriptions
 Subscription Info
 Order Forms

JCE HS CLIC

Our Secondary School editors work hard to distill all the JCE materials to produce a fraction of particular interest to high school teachers. We call it CLIC.
 JCE HS CLIC

Contributions Welcome
JCE welcomes your submission
 Contributors' Corner

Advertisers
In recent years we have worked hard to better match our advertisers with our readers. When shopping for chemistry education materials, visit our advertisers' WWW sites first.
 Recent Advertisers

Be An Ambassador
Take JCE along on your outreach missions. Copies of the Journal, guest access to JCE Online, our publications catalog, and more are available for your participants.
 Outreach with JCE

Comments to
jceonline@chem.wisc.edu		 Copyright © Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society.
All rights reserved.