1.) Draw a set of 1.5-volt cells in a series circuit so that the total battery voltage is 9 volts. A.) how many cell does it take? B.) show polarity connection. C.) suppose you connected one of the cells in part (a) so that it was backwards. what would the voltage across the battery be? Why?
I think it will take six batteries, hooked + to - in the same direction.
One backwards, then you have two of them canceling out, and you are left with four x 1.5v
To answer these questions, we need to understand how voltages add up in a series circuit involving batteries.
A.) To make a total battery voltage of 9 volts using 1.5-volt cells, we need to determine the number of cells in the series circuit.
Since each cell has a voltage of 1.5 volts, we divide the total voltage by the individual cell voltage:
9 volts ÷ 1.5 volts = 6 cells
Therefore, it would take 6 cells to create a total battery voltage of 9 volts.
B.) The polarity connection in a series circuit is important to ensure the batteries are connected correctly. In a series circuit, the negative terminal of one cell is connected to the positive terminal of the adjacent cell.
For our example with 6 cells, you would connect them as follows:
- Connect the positive terminal of the first cell to the negative terminal of the second cell.
- Connect the positive terminal of the second cell to the negative terminal of the third cell.
- Continue this pattern until you have connected all 6 cells in series, with the positive terminal of the last cell remaining unconnected.
Visual representation:
[+][-][+][-][+][-][+][-][+][-][+]
C.) If one of the cells in part (A) is connected backward (reversed polarity), it would change the overall voltage across the battery.
Since a reversed cell essentially subtracts its voltage instead of adding, the voltage across the battery would be the sum of the remaining cells minus the voltage of the reversed cell.
In our case, if one cell is reversed, we subtract 1.5 volts from the series circuit total. The voltage across the battery would be:
9 volts - 1.5 volts = 7.5 volts
The voltage decreases because the reversed cell acts as a load and reduces the overall voltage supplied by the batteries.