A Project Report On

TO STUDY VARIOUS FACTORS ON

WHICH THE INTERNAL
RESISTANCE/EMF OF A CELL DEPENDS.

Submitted By
SHAURYA GARG
Class : XII H
Under the Guidance of
Mr. D K Jha
Teacher, Deptt of Physics

Department of Physics
DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL GREATER NOIDA
Sector Gamma-II, Greater Noida
Distt, Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P.- 201308

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Delhi Public School, Greater Noida
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that , a student of class XII has

successfully completed the research on the project

under the guidance of

(Subject Teacher) during the year 2019-2020 in partial fulfilment of

physics practical examination conducted by CBSE, New Delhi.

Name of examiner Name of Physics Teacher

Mr/Ms…………………………… Mr/Ms………………………….

Signature of Examiner Signature of Physics Teacher

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 ABSTRACT
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
An electrochemical cell is a device by which electric energy is
generated at the cost of chemical energy due to chemical action taking
place in the cell. They are of two types:

1. Primary Cells
2. Secondary Cells

PRIMARY CELL: It is the cell in which electrical energy is

produced due to chemical energy. The chemical reaction in the cell is
irreversible.
E.g. Daniel cell, Leclanche cell.

SECONDARY CELL: It is that cell in which the electrical energy is

first stored up as chemical energy and when the outside circuit is
closed to draw the current from the cell the stored chemical energy is
reconverted into electrical energy. The chemical reactions in this case
are reversible.
E.g. lead acid accumulator, Edison cell.

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DANIEL CELL
The Daniel cell was invented by a British chemist, John Frederic
Daniel. In the Daniel cell, copper and zinc electrodes are immersed in
a solution of copper (II) sulphate (CuSO4 (aq)) and zinc (II) sulphate
(ZnSO4 (aq)) respectively. The two half cells are connected through a
salt bridge. Here zinc acts as anode and copper acts as cathode.
At the anode, zinc undergoes oxidation to form zinc ions and
electrons. The zinc ions pass into the solution. If the two electrodes
are connected using an external wire, the electrons produced by the
oxidation of zinc travel through the wire and enter into the copper
cathode, where they reduce the copper ions present in the solution and
form copper atoms that are deposited on the cathode.
The anodic reaction is represented as:

The cathodic reaction is represented as:

The difference of excess electrons on the anode and deficit of

electrons on the cathode creates an electrical potential between the
two electrodes. The ions pass through the salt bridge to maintain
charge balance until such a time as the anode and cathode reach
electrical equilibrium of zero volts as chemical equilibrium is reached
in the cell.
The so-called “salt bridge” is not made of salt but could be made of
material able to wick the cations and anions (salts) in the solutions,
where the flow of positively charged cations along the “bridge”
amounts to the same number of negative charges flowing in the
opposite directions.

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ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE
Electromotive force, also called EMF (denoted and measured in volt),
is the voltage developed by any source of electrical energy such as a
battery or dynamo. It is generally defined as the electrical potential for
a source in a circuit.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude to my teacher Mrs. Manjusha Rawat
as well as our principal Mrs. Rashmi Mishra
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the factors affecting
internal resistance/emf of cell, which also
helped me in doing a lot of Research and I
came to know about so many new things I am
really thankful to them.

Secondly I would also like to thank my parents

and friends who helped me a lot in finalising
this project within the limited time frame.

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 CONTENTS
S.NO CONTENT PAGE
NO.
1 INTERNAL RESISTANCE 8

2 OBJECTIVE AND THEORY OF PRACTICAL 9

3 APPARATUS REQUIRED 10

4 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 11

5 PROCEDURE 12

6 OBSERVATION 15

7 RESULTS 17

8 PRECAUTIONS 18

9 SOURCES OF ERROR 19

10 FLOWCHART CONCLUSION 20

11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 21

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 INTERNAL RESISTANCE
Internal resistance is defined as the resistance offered
by the electrolyte of the cell to the flow of
ions.
Its S.I.unit is Ohm (Ω)
For a cell of e.m.f. (E) and internal
resistance (r), connected to an external
resistance (R) such that (I) is the current
flowing through the circuit,
E = V + Ir
Internal Resistance r = E-V/I

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 PRACTICAL
OBJECTIVE
To study the various factors on which the internal resistance of the cell
depends.

THEORY
The internal resistance of a cell is the resistance offered by its
electrolyte to the flow of ions. The internal resistance of a cell

• Is directly proportional to the distance between

the electrodes. Let x be the distance between the electrodes, then,
rαx

• Is inversely proportional to facing surface area of

the electrodes in electrolyte. Let A be the surface area of the
electrodes, then, r α 1/A

• Decreases with increase in temperature of electrolyte.

• Is inversely proportional to concentration of electrolyte.

The internal resistance of a cell is given by:
r = (E-V)/I

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APPARATUS
• A potentiometer
• a battery or battery eliminator

• two one way keys

• a rheostat
• a galvanometer
• a resistance box
• an ammeter
• a cell (Leclanche cell)
• a jockey
• a setsquare
• connecting wi res
• sand paper

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CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

The above circuit includes :

• A power supply
• Two one way keys
• A galvanometer
• A Resistance Box
• A Leclanche cell
• A shunt resistance

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PROCEDURE
1. Clean the ends of the connecting wires with sand paper and
make tight connections according to the circuit diagram.

2. Tighten the plugs of the resistance box.

3. Check the e.m.f. of the battery and of the cell and make sure
that e.m.f. of the battery is more than that of the cell, otherwise
null or balance point will not be obtained.

To study variation of internal resistance with distance of

separation.

4. Keep both the electrodes at a distance of 16 cm.

5. Take maximum current from the battery, making rheostat

resistance small.

6. Without inserting a plug in key K2, adjust the rheostat so that a

null point is obtained on the last wire of the potentiometer.

7. Determine the position of the null point accurately using a set

square and measure the balancing length (l1) between the null
point and the end P.

8. Next introduce plugs in both keys K1 and K2. At the same time,
take out a small resistance (1 – 5W) from the shunt resistance box
connected in parallel with the cell.

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9. Slide the jockey along a potentiometer wire and obtain the null
point.

10. Measure the balancing length (l2) from end P.

Record these observations.

11. Now keep the electrodes 12 cm apart.

12. Then remove the plugs of keys K1 and K2. Wait for some time
and repeat steps 7 to 10.

13. Next, keep the electrodes 9 cm apart to obtain another set of

observations.

To study variation of internal resistance with area of

electrodes.

14. Keeping all other factors constant, increase the area of

electrodes in the electrolyte by dipping them into the electrolyte at
different depths for each observation.

15. Obtain three such observations by repeating steps 7 to 10.

Record your readings.

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To study variation of internal resistance with concentration of
electrolyte.

16. Keeping all other factors constant, decrease the concentration

of electrolyte by adding distilled water for different observations.

17. Obtain three such observations by repeating step 7 to 10.

Record your readings.

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OBSERVATION

S.NO AMMETER POSITION OF NULL SHUNT INTERNAL

READING POINT (cm) RESISTANCE RESISTANCE
(A) R(Ω) r(Ω)

With R Without R
(l1) (l2)

1 0.3 660.5 35.5 1 0.94

2 0.3 660.5 77.2 2 1.77

3 0.3 660.5 108.3 3 2.51

Table for effect of separation between electrodes

S.NO BALANCI BALANCI INTERNAL r/D
SEPA NG POINT NG POINT RESISTANCE
l1 (cm) l2 (cm) r(Ω)
RATION
BETWEEN
ELECTRODES
D (cm)

1 1.2 326.6 276.9 O.456 0.38

2 2.5 320.7 219.1 O.95 0.38

3 3.7 660.5 350.9 1.406 0.38

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Table for effect of temperature

S.NO TEMPRATURE L1(cm) L2(cm) INTERNAL Tr( ΩK)

T (C) RESISTA RESISTANCE
NC E R r (Ω)
(Ω)

1 1.2 326.6 276.9 0.456 0.38 301.44

2 2.5 320.7 219.1 0.95 0.38 291.96

3 3.7 660.5 350.9 1.406 0.38 283.87

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RESULTS AND
INFERENCES
• The Electromotive Force of the cell is constant
and is equal to E = 0.98 Volt.
• The internal resistance of a cell is directly
proportional to the separation between the
electrodes.
• The internal resistance of a cell is inversely
proportional to the area of the electrodes dipped
in electrolyte.
• The internal resistance of a cell is inversely
proportional to the temperature of electrolytes.
• The internal resistance of a cell is inversely
proportional to the concentration of the
electrolyte.

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PRECAUTIONS
1. The connections should be neat , clean and
tight.

2. The plugs should be introduced in the keys only

when the observations are to be taken.

3. The positive polls of the battery E and cells E1

and E2 should , all be connected to the terminal
at the zero of the wires.

4. The jockey key should not be rubbed along the

wire. It should touch the wire gently.

5. The ammeter reading should remain constant

for a particular set of observation. If necessary ,
adjust the rheostat for this purpose.

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SOURCES AND ERROR
1. The auxiliary battery may not be fully
charged.
2. The potentiometer wire may not be of
uniform cross- section and material
density throughout its length.
3. End resistances may not be zero.

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 FLOWCHART
CONCLUSION

Factors Affecting Internal Resistance of a Cell

Area of Conc. of
Electrodes Electrolyte
Inversely Proportional Inversely Proportional
Distance
between
Electrodes
Directly Proportional Temperature

of Electrolytes
Inversely Proportional

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.google.com
• www.docfoc.com
• www.wikipedia.com
• www.meritnation.com
• www.topperlearning.com
• www.quora.com
• www.academia.edu
• www.ask.learncbse.in
• www.bing.com

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