Lab report
Abstract
The aim of the Thermoelectric Effect experiment was to discover a voltage and current being generated
due to a change in temperature. We used a Thermoelectric module and conducted three different
experiments that enabled us to determine the Seebeck and Peltier coefficients. Our findings, also
generally matched known values for these particular coefficients.
The objective of our molecular Spectroscopy experiment was to determine an unknown concentration
of ethanol using an absorption coefficient obtained from data we also collected.
Introduction
Thermoelectric effect
We did three different experiments investigating the thermoelectric effect.
Experiment 1
The first of our experiments was done with the objective of calculating the Seebeck Coefficient. We
observed the Seebeck effect, a potential difference that is produced by of a temperature difference
between two electrical conductors. In this experiment we used hot water and cold water to create a
difference in temperature difference and measured the temperature difference between the plates and
the voltage generated.
By plotting a graph of voltage against temperature difference it was possible to obtain the Seebeck
Coefficient, which is the gradient of the graph.
The Seebeck Coefficient is given by……
Experiment 2
In the second experiment we were investigating the conservation of energy running the thermoelectric
module as both a heat pump then a heat engine. We measured, the heat supplied (pump), the heat
extracted (engine) and the work done, then calculated a balance from these results.
The conservation of energy is given by….3
When the thermoelectric module is being operated as a heat pump, the current causes the plates of the
thermoelectric module to change temperature, whereas when in heat engine mode, the module drives a
load resistance
The efficiency of the system is given by…..4
We then calculated the ideal Carnot Engine efficiency by using temperatures from our experiment.
This can be calculated from the equation below
……5……
