Activity Overview
Students will use a voltage sensor to measure the voltage produced by new dry cells of each size. They will also determine whether there is a relationship between dry cell size and voltage.
Before the Activity
Connect the TI-73 Explorer™ to the CBL™ unit
Connect the voltage sensor to Channel 1 in the CBL unit
Start the DataMate program
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity
Print pages 33 - 38 from the attached PDF file for your class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to your class
Complete the Hypothesis section on the Data Collection and Analysis page and predict the effect of dry cell size on voltage
Follow the activity procedures:
Collect new dry cells of different sizes and put them into battery holders
Attach the black and red leads to the positive and negative terminals on the battery holder with the help of alligator clips
Measure the voltage and record data for each dry cell size
Create a bar graph to display the voltage reading for each dry cell size
Understand the correlation between dry cell size and voltage
After the Activity
Students will complete Student Data Collection and Analysis Sheet.
Review student results
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary