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

The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources.

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There are three different systems to use for this demonstration.  The Aluminum/Copper or Nickel/Copper systems seem to work best.  An Iron/Copper system is also available.

Place the Aluminum/Copper system on the Plexiglas box with one end hanging over the edge of the box.  Place the compass into the center of the apparatus and then line both the compass and the apparatus up on the Earths north-south line.  Heat one end of the apparatus with the propane torch while cooling the other end with some ice.  The compass should deflect 30 to 45 degrees from the initial position as the heat is applied.  Caution:  Do not apply the heat in such a way or for a continued duration so as you melt the plastic compass.

The "Thermoelectric Series" is a set of elements that can be used to build a Seebeck device.  The farther apart the two elements you are using are on the table, the better the thermoelectric effect. 

Silicon

Bismuth

Nickel

Cobalt

Palladium

Platinum

Uranium

Copper

Manganese

Titanium

Mercury

Lead

Tin

Chromium

Molybdenum

Iridium

Gold

Silver

Aluminum

Zinc

Tungsten

Cadmium

Iron

Arsenic

Tellurium

Germanium