Thermocouples

MPEG Movie (4.56 MB)

 

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 Code Number :   5E50.10

See also: 4A10.30

Disclaimer:

Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

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Condition :   Good   
Principle :   Thermo-Electric Potentials of Two Metals, Seebeck Effect
Area of Study :  Heat & Fluids  
Equipment :   Thermoelectric pair, Thermocouple with multiple pairs, Bunsen burner, Grill lighter, Sensitive voltmeter, Liquid Nitrogen in a beaker.

 

Procedure :   Hold the thermoelectric pair in the flame of the Bunsen burner after it is connected to the voltmeter.  As the temperature of the pair goes up so should the voltage read on the voltmeter.

A variation on this experiment is to use the multiple thermal couple.  Dip one end of this in liquid nitrogen and heat the other end with a Bunsen burner.  A volt meter or a galvanometer may be used to look at the output.  

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   References

Brian Jones, "The Little Shop of Physics", TPT, Vol. 34, # 8, Nov. 1996, p. 514.

Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr., " 19th Century Textbook Illustrations Thermo-Electricity", TPT, Vol. 14, # 6, September 1976, p. 370

 

K. N. Chang, M. S. Cook, K. M. Hamlyn, and R. L. Chaplin, "Modern Thermocouple Experiment", AJP, Vol. 46, (11), Nov. 1978, p. 1080.

 

Et-1:  Freier and Anderson,  A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

 

H-014:  "Thermocouple and Thermopile,"  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.

 

James Cunningham,  "Electric Energy from Heat,"  Hands-On Physics Activities,  p. 571, 584.

John Moore, Christopher Davis, Michael Coplan,  "Thermocouples,"  Building Scientific Apparatus,  p. 511-514.

Shoma Kutasov,  "Dependence of Resistance in Metallic Conductors on the Temperature,"  Physics Demonstration,  p. 142.



Mail Questions and Comments to:  Dale Stille