OBJECTIVES:

The objective of this project is to experimentally verify the SEEBECK EFFECT on

a thermos couple.
The aim being that the current should be passed in the circuit as the heat
difference is maintained on the top and bottom of the giver thermos-couple
plate.
 INTRODUCTION:
HISTORY:
The Seebeck effect is the conversion of temperature differences directly into
electricity and is named after the Baltic German physicist Thomas Johann
Seebeck.
Seebeck, in 1821, discovered that a compass needle would be deflected by a
closed loop formed by two different metals joined in two places, with a
temperature difference between the junctions. This was because the metals
responded to the temperature difference in different ways, creating a current
loop and a magnetic field. Seebeck did not recognize there was an electric
current involved, so he called the phenomenon as thermomagnetic effect.
Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted rectified the mistake and coined the
term "thermo electricity".The Seebeck effect is a classic example of an
electromotive force (emf) and leads to measurable currents or voltages in the
same way as any other emf. Electromotive forces modify Ohm'slaw
by generating currents even in the absence of voltage differences (or vice
versa).

The Figure shows two metallic strips, made of different metals and joined at
the ends to form a loop. If the junctions are kept at different
temperatures, there is an electric current in the loop. The magnitude and the
direction of the emf depend on the metals and the temperatures of the hot
and cold junctions. Such a combination of two metals is called a thermocouple.
The following graph shows the free energy variations of a thermo-couple in the
Seebeck experiment.
 EXPLANATION:
All metals contain large number of free electrons. The density of free electrons
is different under different metals and depends upon the temperature. When
two different metals are connected to from two junctions and these junctions
are kept at different temperatures. Free electrons will diffuse into another
metal at the junctions.

THERMO-ELECTRIC SERIES:
For given temperature of hot and cold junctions, the direction of current in a
thermo-couple depends on the metals chosen. Metals are arranged in a
particular sequence which may be used to predict the direction of current in
the temperature range 0°C to 100°C. This sequence is known as the thermo-
electric series and is as follows:
Antimony, nichrome, iron, zinc, copper, gold, silver, lead, aluminium, mercury,
platinum-rhodium, platinum, nickel, constantan, bismuth.

Application of Thermo-electric Effects:

1. Measurement of temperature by thermo-electric thermometer.
2. Thermo-electric Refrigerator
3. Detection of heat radiation by thermo-pile.

Thermo-electric Effects – Important Features:

1. If a thermo-couple is formed of wires of any two metals from the series, the
direction of current is from a metal occurring earlier in the series to the metal
occurring later in the series.
2. The more the two metals are separated in series, the greater the thermo
e.m.f. produced in the thermo-couple.
3. Temperature of the hot junction of which the thermo e.m.f. produced in a
thermo-couple becomes the maximum called neutral temperature. For a given
thermo-couple it is a fixed temperature. This is an important feature of
Thermo-electric Effects.
4. Temperature of inversion is the temperature of the hot junction at which the
thermo e.m.f. reverses its direction for a given thermo-couple, it changes with
the temperature of the cold junction.
5. The Seebeck effect is reversible effect.
6. Atneutral temperature thermo e.m.f. is maximum.
 THEORY:
Let us consider a thermo-couple of two metals Fe and Cu. Their junctions are
kept cold and hot. If a galvanometer G is connected in the circuit the
galvanometer deflection is observed which corresponds to thermo-electric
current. If the temperature of the hot junction is continuously increased, the
thermo-electric current increases until a maximum value is reached. The
temperature of the hot junction at which maximum current flows is constant
for a given thermocouple. It is independent of the temperature of the cold
junction and is called the neutral temperature, for the couple. On further
increasing the temperature of the hot junction the current decreases to zero
and is then reversed. The temperature at which the current is zero and its
reversal begins is called inversion temperature. It depends on the temperature
of the cold junction and the chosen couple. It is always as much above the
neutral temperature as the cold junction is below it. Thus,

The graph between the emf and the temperature difference of the two
junction is of the parabolic form of majority of couples. Thus, emf can be given
as, e= a+bt+ct2
Thermo-couple characteristics at low temperatures. The Au-Fe-based thermos-
couple shows a steady sensitivity down to low temperatures, whereas
conventional types soon flatten out and lose sensitivity at low temperatures.
 PROCEDURE:
❖ Take two copper wires AB and CD and an aluminium wire EF.
❖ Connect the wires AB and CD through a multimeter.
❖ The ends A and D are tied with the ends E and F of aluminium wire.
❖ The tied wires are kept in hot and cold junctions. Candles and ice cubes act
as heat sources, and heat sinks respectively.
❖ Now the multimeter shows deflection.
❖ After a little time, the multimeter deflection goes dull and
finally stops. This phenomenon takes place because after a
little time, the temperature difference becomes negligible, since, the entire
plate heats up.
 OBSERVATION:
From the experiment, we observe that a milli-volt potential difference was
created between the hot and cold junctions. So there was a small current
flowing through the thermo-couple. This current gets duller as the time passes.
After a while the flow of current stops.

CONCLUSION:
As we observe the current turning low and then going out, we infer that the
current flows through the circuit till there’s a temperature difference between
the two sides of the thermos-couple plate.
 PRECAUTIONS:
While doing the experiment one should take care of the wires and the
multimeter, as they are extremely delicate. While lighting the candle and
heating the side of the thermo-couple plate(wire), one should be very
cautious. After heating for a little while, one should let the other part of the
wire cool so as to perform the experiment successfully.