PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

Submitted for
ALL INDIA SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
EXAMINATION

2022- 2023

Study the various factors on which the internal resistance/emf of

a cell depends.

Done by

Daniel Anto Benjamine

XII C
SCIENCE STREAM
 INDEX:

S.No Contents

1 Acknowledgement

2 Introduction
i. Electrochemical Cells
ii. Daniel Cell
iii. Electromotive Force
3 Objective

4 Apparatus

5 Circuit Diagram

6 Theory

7 Procedure

8 Observations

9 Conclusion

10 Precautions

11 Sources of error

12 Bibliography
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

I would like to express my special thanks to my Physics Teacher,

Mr. Agni Swarup for his guidance, and support throughout the duration of
the project on the factors affecting internal resistance/emf of cell. We
completed the project successfully by his motivation and his extended
support for us.

As well as I would like to thank our Correspondent Dr. R. Kishore Kumar,

our Principal Mrs. Shanthi Samuel and Vice Principal Mrs. Angelin
Christopher who gave me the opportunity to work on this project, which in
turn helped me in doing alot of research and analysis in the chosen topic.

Finally, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who supported
me in completing this project within the limited time frame.
 INTRODUCTION

There is a great need of batteries in our daily use electronic appliances and the use
is increasing every day. Thus, the batteries need to be made more powerful so that
their potential can be increased greatly. Thus, this project report is based on
practical analysis for the factors affecting the internal resistance of a cell. When the
internal resistance of the cell is decreased we can increase the potential difference
across it, and hence make it more reliable.

ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS

An electrochemical cell is a device by which electric energy is generated at the cost

of chemical energy due to chemical action taking place in the cell. They are of two
types:

1. Primary Cells
2. Secondary Cells

PRIMARY CELL: It is the cell in which electrical energy is produced due to

chemical energy. The chemical reaction in the cell is irreversible.
E.g. Daniel cell, Leclanche cell.

SECONDARY CELL: It is that cell in which the electrical energy is first stored up
as chemical energy and when the outside circuit is closed to draw the current from
the cell the stored chemical energy is reconverted into electrical energy. The
chemical reactions in this case are reversible.
E.g. lead acid accumulator, Edison cell.
DANIEL CELL

The Daniel cell was invented by a British chemist, John Frederic Daniel. In the
Daniel cell, copper and zinc electrodes are immersed in a solution of copper (II)
sulphate (CuSO4 (aq)) and zinc (II) sulphate (ZnSO4 (aq)) respectively. The two
half cells are connected through a salt bridge. Here zinc acts as anode and copper
acts as cathode.

At the anode, zinc undergoes oxidation to form zinc ions and electrons. The zinc
ions pass into the solution. If the two electrodes are connected using an external
wire, the electrons produced by the oxidation of zinc travel through the wire and
enter into the copper cathode, where they reduce the copper ions present in the
solution and form copper atoms that are deposited on the cathode.

The cathodic reaction is represented as:

The difference of excess electrons on the anode and deficit of electrons on the
cathode creates an electrical potential between the two electrodes.

The ions pass through the salt bridge to maintain charge balance until such a time
as the anode and cathode reach electrical equilibrium of zero volts as chemical
equilibrium is reached in the cell.

The so-called "salt bridge" is not made of salt but could be made of material able to
wick the cations and anions (salts) in the solutions, where the flow of positively
charged cations along the "bridge" amounts to the same number of negative
charges flowing in the opposite direction.

ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE

Electromotive force, also called emf (denoted and measured in volt), is the voltage
developed by any source of electrical energy such as a battery or dynamo. It is
generally defined as the electrical potential for a source in a circuit.
 OBJECTIVE

To study the various factors on which the internal resistance/emf of a cell depends.

APPARATUS

A Potentiometer , a battery (battery eliminator) , two way keys , a rheostat of low

resistance , a galvanometer , a high resistance , an ammeter , a cell , a Jockey , a set
square , connecting wires , water bath , thermometer(0-100°C) , burner , tripod
stand , wire gauge .

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
Figure: Circuit diagram for internal resistance of a cell
THEORY

The internal resistance of a cell is the resistance offered by its electrolyte to the flow
of ions. The internal resistance of a cell
i. Is directly proportional to the distance between the electrodes.
ii. Is inversely proportional to facing surface area of the electrodes in electrolyte.
iii. Decrease with increase in temperature of electrolyte.
iv. Is inversely proportional to concentration of electrolyte. The internal
resistance of a cell is given by

Where l1,l2 are the balancing lengths without resistance and with resistance (shunt)
, respectively and R is the shunt resistance in parallel with the given cell.

PROCEDURE

Step 1

 Draw the circuit diagram showing the scheme of connections.

 Clean the ends of the connecting wires with sand paper and make tight
connections according to the circuit diagrams.

 Tight the plugs of the resistance box.

  Check the e.m.f. of the battery and cell and see that e.m.f. and see that
e.m.f. of the battery is more than that of given cell ,otherwise null or
balance point will not be obtained (E' >E).

 To test the corrections of the connections.(insert the plug in the key K 1 and
note the ammeter reading .Take out 2000 ohm resistance plug from resistance
box. Place the jokey first at the end P of the wire and then at the end Q. If the
galvanometer shows deflection in opposite direction in the two cases the
connections are correct).

 Without inserting the plug in the key K 2 adjust the rheostat so that a null
point is obtained on the 4th wire of potentiometer.

 Insert the 2000 ohm plug back in the position in resistance box and by slightly
adjusting the jockey near the previous obtained position of null point, obtain
null point position accurately, using a set square.

 Measure the balancing length l1 between the point and the end P of the wire.

 Take out the 2000 ohm plug again from the resistance box R.B. introduce
plugs in the key K1, as well as in key K 2 . Take out small resistance
 (1-5 Ω) from the resistance box R connected in parallel with the cell.

 Slide the jockey along the potentiometer wire and obtain null point.

 Insert 2000 ohms plug back in its position in R.B. and if necessary make
further adjustment for sharp null point.

 Measure the balancing length l2 from end P.

 Remove the plug keys at K1 and K 2. Wait for some time and for the same
value of current (as shown by ammeter) repeat the steps 7 to 13.
  Repeat the observations for different values of R repeating each observation
twice.

 Calculate the internal resistance of cell by using the above relation for r.

Step 2

To see the effect of distance between the electrodes on internal resistances keeping
the other factors constant, vary separation between electrodes and measure internal
resistance in each case.

Step 3

To see the effect of the temperature of electrolyte on internal resistance by keeping

other factors constant.
Keep primary cells in water bath to heat the electrolyte. Determine the internal
resistance at various temperatures.

Step 4

To see the effect of concentration (nature) of electrolyte on internal resistance by:-

Keeping the other factors constant, decrease concentration of electrolyte by adding
the distilled water and determine internal resistance of cell in each case.
 OBSERVATIONS

(A) Internal resistance of cell

1. Table for internal resistance:-

S.No. Ammeter Pos. of null point ( cm ) Shunt r=( (l1−l2)/ l1 )R

Reading Resistance
(A) With R (l1 ) Without R R(Ω) Ω
( l2 )

1. 0.3 660.5 35.5 1 0.94

2. 0.3 660.5 77.2 2 1.77

3. 0.3 660.5 108.3 3 2.51

 (B) To study the effect of separation between the electrodes

2. Table for effect of separation between electrodes:-

S.No. Separation between Balancing Balancing r=( (l1−l2)/ l1 r/d

length length
)R
Electrodes-d (cm) (cm) ( l1 ) (cm) (l2) (Ω)

1. 1.2 326.6 276.9 0.456 0.38

2. 2.5 320.7 219.1 0.95 0.38

3. 3.7 660.5 350.9 1.406 0.38

(c) Effect of temperature of electrolyte on the internal resistance

3. Table for effect of temperature:-

S.No. Temperature l1 l2 Resistance l1−l2 Tr

r=( l1 )R

(T) °C (cm) (cm) R (Ω) (Ω) (ΩK)

1. 40 325 12 1 0.96 301.44

2. 32 552 23.6 1 0.95 291.96

3. 27 660.5 35.5 1 0.94 283.87

 CONCLUSION

From the above experiment, we can conclude that

 The Electromotive Force of the cell is constant and is equal to E = 0.98 Volt

 The internal resistance of a cell is directly proportional to the separation

between the electrodes.

 The internal resistance of a cell is inversely proportional to the area of the

electrodes dipped in electrolyte.

 The internal resistance of a cell is inversely proportional to the temperature of

electrolytes.

 The internal resistance of a cell is inversely proportional to the concentration

of the electrolyte.
 PRECAUTIONS

 The connections should be neat , clean and tight.

 The plugs should be introduced in the keys only when the observations are to
be taken.

 The positive polls of the battery E and cells E1 and E2 should, all be
connected to the terminal at the zero of the wires.

 The jockey key should not be rubbed along the wire. It should touch the wire
gently.

 The ammeter reading should remain constant for a particular set of

observation. If necessary, adjust the rheostat for this purpose.

 The e.m.f. of the battery should be greater than the e.m.f.'s of the either of the
two cells.

 Some high resistance plug should always be taken out from resistance box
before the jockey is moved along the wire.

 The e.m.f. of the battery should be greater than that of the cell.

 For one set of observation the ammeter reading should remain constant.

 Current should be passed for short time only, while finding the null point.
 Rheostat should be adjusted so that initial null point lies on last wire of the
potentiometer.

 Cell should not be disturbed during experiment.

 Jockey should not be rubbed against the potentiometer wire.

 SOURCES OF ERROR

 The auxiliary battery may not be fully charged.

 The potentiometer wire may not be of uniform cross-section and material

density throughout its length.

 End resistances may not be zero.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Physics NCERT class X!!

II. Comprehensive Physics Practical class X!!
III. www.google.com
IV. en.wikipedia.org