Many chemical experiments require the use of Bunsen burner or similar gas burner to produce heat. The object of this experiment is to familiarize you with the gas burner and teach you how to use it with the aid of thermocouples to explore the temperature at various sites in the burner flame.

In 1821 Thomas Seebeck discovered the principle that lead to thermocouples. He twisted the ends of two dissimilar metal wires together. When he heated the junction between the two wires, a current flowed. The voltage produced by the hot metal junction was a function of its temperature. This junction became known as a thermocouple and the phenomenon the Seebeck effect.

The two dissimilar metals in your thermocouple are chromel and alumel. Both chromel and alumel are alloys with nickel as the major component. Chromel has 10% chromium, and alumel has 5% aluminum with a trace of silicon. When heated, they produce about 0.041 millivolts/EC.

In addition to measuring temperatures, the current generated can also be used power electrical devices. Nuclear thermoelectric generators are used as a source of electrical energy for long term space probes. For example, a grapefruit size plutonium reactor weighing roughly 4 pounds can produce 11.6 kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to operate your television for a thousand years.

1 – multi-meters

1 – 1 ft cut Type K wires with soldered tips and Banana clips

1 -mini- calorimeter cups

Kit addresses

Determination of Bunsen burner flame temperature using Thermocouple wire and voltage conversion Chart.

Unit Conversions
High Temperature Recording Methods
Types of Burners
Seebeck Effect and Thermocouple Wire
Voltage Concept
Use of Voltmeters

Preface – This lab introduces the student to measuring temperatures of objects that are much hotter than standard state and how using the seebeck effect the temperature can be measured. This is a framing lab for the next lab which deals with extremely cold temperatures.

Science Practices Addressed: 3.1 The student can pose scientific questions. 3.2 The student can refine scientific questions. 3.3 The student can evaluate scientific questions.

Objectives:

Students will be able to  Read Conversion Tables  Convert Celsius to Kelvin  Explore alternative methods of Determining Temperature  Explore Types of Burners  Use Voltmeters and explore the concept of voltage.