Charge Your Phone with Fire

Science Fair 2015

Table of Contents

Abstract..1
Introduction....2
Purpose..3
Research....4
Hypothesis.5
Variables....6
Procedure..7
Materials.8
Data...911
DataResults12
Conclusion...13
Acknowledgements14
WorksCited.15

Intro
Alternative energy sources have been increasing in popularity lately, such
as solar panels, wind turbines, thermoelectricity, Etc. Over the years we have
seen some flaws in these alternative energy sources, though. Solar panels are
expensive and wind turbines are expensive and take up a lot of space. There is
another alternative energy source that many people have never heard of or
used. It is called thermoelectricity. Thermoelectricity occurs when you apply
heat or cooling to two different types of conductive metals. At the atomic scale
when the heat from the hot side transfers to the cold side, the electrons in the
metals are being dragged across, along with the heat. This creates an electric
current. The thermoelectric effect consists of three different effects: The Peltier
effect, The Seebeck effect, and the Thomson effect. The Peltier and Seebeck
effects are now commonly known as the thermoelectric effect. The Thomson
effect is mainly an effect that helps stabilize and make the transfer of electricity
more efficient. This effect can help us generate heat or electricity when the
power goes out. This effect can also help people who cannot afford electricity
from a power grid, but still need small amounts of electricity for basic
electronics. Our question is, what metals work best when attempting to conduct
electricity using the thermoelectric effect? We will test four of the most
common wires by literally charging them with fire!

Abstract
Thermoelectric coolers and generators require two different types of
metals to allow discharge and flow of an electric current. Our question was what
two different metals work best together to conduct and generate the most
voltage. We chose two different types of metals and made three 15cm cuts of
each metal. We then tested the metals at the same time and discovered which
worked best when attempting to generate electricity with an open flame. Our
hypothesis was that silver and copper would conduct the most electricity from
the heat applied because silver is the most thermally conductive and the most
conductive of all metals due to the tarnish that forms on silver. Copper is also
the second most conductive metal and is widely used in many electronic
devices. We couldnt afford silver wire due to the fact that pure silver wire is
around $150 for 1 rod, so we chose buss and copper to be the best wires to test.
The control in our experiment was copper and aluminum because these are the
two metals used in the majority of manufactured thermoelectric coolers. Our
constant was the heat, so we made sure that we used the same amount of heat
so we did not rule out any metals due to different amounts of temperature
difference. The variable in our experiment was the different types of metals and
metal combinations so that we could try every type of metal and every single
combination to see which worked the best together. We measured the
effectiveness of our variable by the amount of voltage generated after 30, 60,
and 90 second exposures with an average flame temperature of 3,578. We
used three 15cm cuts of each of the two types of metals above the flame,
because just two of them would not be sufficient enough voltage-wise to

register on a multimeter. We tested each of the metals and recorded what level
of voltage they were at for the time periods of 30 seconds, 60 seconds, and 90
seconds. After we tested, we found that of the wires that we had (copper, buss,
brass, & aluminum) brass and buss were the best.

Purpose
What metals conduct the most electricity using the thermoelectric effect?

Research Paper
The thermoelectric effect is a conversion from differences in temperature to
electricity and can be reversed to create heat, cooling, or even measure temperature. The
thermoelectric effect states that applying temperature to one side of a conductive metal,
at the atomic level, causes charge carriers to travel from the hot side to the cooler side.
Another way of saying this is, when the heat travels from the hot side to the cold side, it
also drags the electrons in the metal with it, creating an electric current.
In the year 1834 a French physicist, Jean Peltier, discovered that heating or cooling
an electrified junction using two different and separate conductors, electrical currents
could be generated or removed. The same can be applied in the reverse. Sending an
electrical current between two different conductors can produce heat or cooling. This can
be applied to many compact refrigerators that don't use fluid cooling.
The thermoelectric effect consists of three different effects. The first is the Seebeck
effect. The Seebeck uses the conversion in temperature differences to generate a current
loop. The Seebeck effect was named after German physicist Thomas Seebeck in 1821. This
worked because the different types of metals responded to the temperature differently.
The atoms then diffused and transferred from the hot to the cold side. Seebeck didnt
notice the electric current that was involved, so he named it the thermomagnetic effect.
Later a Danish physicist, Hans Christian rsted, noticed the electric current involved and
renamed it the thermoelectric effect.
The Peltier effect is named after French scientist Jean Peltier. The Peltier effect is
the opposite of the Seebeck. The Seebeck effect creates electricity while the Peltier effect
generates heat or cooling. The Peltier effect is useful for small compact refrigerators or
managing temperature. The formula for finding the heat generated is
where
II
and
II
represent the
coefficient of the conductor
and the
A
B
II
represents
the electric current flowing from point A to point B.

Hypothesis
Our hypothesis is that silver and the copper will create the most voltage because
silver is the most conductive and thermoelectrically conductive metal due to the
tarnish that is on it. We think that copper will create a high amount of voltage,
too, because it is very conductive and is used by big manufacturers that create
electrical parts and machines, including manufactured Peltier coolers. We
cannot use silver, though, because just 1 rod of silver can be around $150
dollars. As such, we will instead use aluminum.
Though we will not use silver, we believe that buss and copper will work
sufficiently because buss is very dense and may carry a lot of electrons that can
be discharged across to copper. We feel that aluminum and copper will be the
worst because they are the thinnest and may not carry a sufficient number of
electrons.

Variables
The variables for our project are the temperature in the air, the wind
around us, the amount of wires used per test, and each kind of metal.
The temperature of the air could affect our results because the metals are
getting heat from the candle, but If cold temperature is added to one the side of
the wire that is also exposed to the flame, the voltage and temperature of the
wire could increase dramatically. We did not want to test the wires adding the
cold temperature to the other side because we wanted to test the wires
undisturbed, as well as observe how they each react to heat.
The wind around us could also have affected our results because with cool
temperatures flowing around the other side of the wire, it could have also
cooled the other side of the wire, increasing the voltage dramatically.
We used three of each kind of wire during our tests. We did this so that
there was more voltage we could measure in each test. If we tested using
different amounts and lengths of wires, we would of gotten different results and
voltage readings.

Procedure
The first thing we did to start our tests was to buy our materials. The most
important materials were the wires. We bought the wires and began to build
our set up. We took a 12 x 7 piece of pinewood and drilled a 1 inch diameter
hole in the middle of the the piece of wood. Then, we took six - inch aluminum
screws and six washers and put them aside. We next took the metals and cut
three 15cm cuts of each metal. We then, one by one, bent the metal wires into a
v-shape and screwed them into the board so that the bend in the v-shape was
above the hole. We would have a different metal in every other spot. We used
three of one metal and three of another metal. After we screwed in the metal
wires, we connected the ends of the wires to each other. We took the first and
last wiress and connected them to the volt meter. We then lit a Bic lighter under
the hole and checked the Ohms, Volts, & Amps every 30, 60, & 90 seconds using
a multimeter. We recorded our results in a Google document and then recorded
the Amperage, Voltage, & Ohms. In two of our tests (Copper & Buss, Aluminum
& Buss), the voltage was very unstable because the Peltier effect was not very
stable. To fix that, we used a website called Rapid Tables to find the voltage by
converting the Amperage and Ohms.

Materials

1spoolofcopperwire(16gauge)

1spoolofaluminumwire(16gauge)

1spoolofbusswire(16gauge)

1spoolofbrasswire(16gauge)

1digitalmultimeter(RadioShack)

1Biclighter

6inchaluminumscrews

18voltdrill

1slabof12x7pinewood

1pairofscissors

1whitenonscentedcandle

440
mmx
40
mm
Peltiercoolers


Metals

Time
(sec)

Amps(average)

Copper&Buss

30

.136

Copper&Buss

60

.184

Copper&Buss

90

.236

Brass&Buss

30

.331

Brass&Buss

60

.468

Brass&Buss

90

.902

Copper&Brass

30

.330

Copper&Brass

60

.374

Copper&Brass

90

.446

Aluminum&Buss

30

.296

Aluminum&Buss

60

.368

Aluminum&Buss

90

.548

Aluminum&Copper

30

.149

Aluminum&Copper

60

.277

Aluminum&Copper

90

.386

Aluminum&Brass

30

.167

Aluminum&Brass

60

.363

Aluminum&Brass

90

.508

Metals

Time
(sec)

Ohms
20k

Copper&Buss

30

1.37

Copper&Buss

60

2.41

Copper&Buss

90

2.93

Brass&Buss

30

3.39

Brass&Buss

60

4.76

Brass&Buss

90

6.43

Copper&Brass

30

1.88

Copper&Brass

60

2.59

Copper&Brass

90

3.87

Aluminum&Buss

30

1.04

Aluminum&Buss

60

2.51

Aluminum&Buss

90

3.05

Aluminum&Copper

30

1.13

Aluminum&Copper

60

2.24

Aluminum&Copper

90

5.32

Aluminum&Brass

30

4.63

Aluminum&Brass

60

3.27

Aluminum&Brass

90

6.39

Metals

Time
(sec)

Volts
(Average)

Copper&Buss

30

0.18

Copper&Buss

60

0.44

Copper&Buss

90

0.69

Brass&Buss

30

1.12

Brass&Buss

60

2.22

Brass&Buss

90

5.79

Copper&Brass

30

0.62

Copper&Brass

60

0.96

Copper&Brass

90

1.72

Aluminum&Buss

30

0.30

Aluminum&Buss

60

0.92

Aluminum&Buss

90

1.67

Aluminum&Copper

30

0.16

Aluminum&Copper

60

0.62

Aluminum&Copper

90

2.05

Aluminum&Brass

30

0.77

Aluminum&Brass

60

1.18

Aluminum&Brass

90

3.24

Data Results
In our data, we found that brass and buss conducted the most electricity
from an open flame (3578). Brass and buss produced on average 1.12 volts in
30 seconds, 2.22 volts in 60 seconds, and 5.79 volts in 90 seconds. Brass and
buss produced more volts than any other combination by 2.5 volts (for 90
seconds). We think this happened because the brass was thicker and had a
higher density so they could conduct the most electrons. They also must react to
heat in the most complete opposite ways. One metal must get hotter when
exposed to fire, while the other stays cooler so that there is more heat transfer.
Copper and buss came in last place in our tests. We think this happened
because these two types of copper react to heat relatively the same since they
are both forms of copper wire.

Conclusion
Out of all the metals and metal combinations we tested, we found that
brass and buss conducted the most electricity from an open flame. We believe
this happened because of the high conductivity of each metal wire, and the
thickness and density may allowed them to handle heat better and conduct
more electrons as a result. Another large reason is because the the metals react
to heat differently. Some metals largely react to heat and become hotter, as
some stay cooler when exposed to heat. The larger the heat different the more
heat is transferred and more electrons are conducted. Brass and buss are both
thick and seem to be denser than the other metals we tested. Brass and buss
seem to work really well together because the voltage is so much higher than all
the other metal combinations. Brass and buss together generated 5.79 volts
after 90 seconds.
The pair that generated the least amount of voltage was copper and buss.
We believe that copper and buss generated the least amount of voltage,
because we assume it is because they handle heat about the same, due to the
fact that buss is just tinted copper. This made it harder for one metal to become
substantially cooler than the other. This combination made the flow of electrons
and heat much slower and weaker. At their peak, the pair generated just 0.69
volts after 90 seconds of exposure to the flame.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Joshs parents for helping us in organizing meetings and
helping us obtain the items we needed for testing and presenting. Joshs parents also fed
us delicious food and gave us access to a high quality camera for our pictures. We would
also like to thank Gang Liu for being our professional contact and our advisor. Gang gave
us basic information on how the thermoelectric effect works and where it came from.
Gang guided us very well. Gangs email i
s
gang.liu@analogtechnologies.com

Works Cited
"Introduction to Thermoelectrics."
Introduction to Thermoelectrics
. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
"Theory of the Thermoelectric Power of Semiconductors."
APS Journals
. 01 Dec. 1954. Web.16
Jan. 2014.
"An Introduction to Thermoelectric Coolers
Electronics Cooling Magazine.
01 Sept. 1996. Web.
16 Jan. 2014.
Mr.Tesalonian. Homemade high output thermoelectric generator, 6 cells 200mv.
Online video clip.
YouTube.
YouTube, 28 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
Mr.Tesalonian. Homemade thermal electric generator 250mv. Cell construction. Online video
clip.
YouTube.
YouTube, 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
nylesteiner. Copper Oxide Thermoelectric Generator Can Light LED Online video clip.
YouTube.
YouTube, 19 Jul. 2011. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.