Physics Principles and Problems 2009

Chapter 23: Series and Parallel Circuits

Problem of the Week

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Just Add Sugar
With a little sugar and a few billion microbes, electrochemist Peter Bennetto hopes to produce enough electricity to run a watch, a car, or even a city. Peter calculates that an electric car could travel 15 miles on two pounds of sugar. The electrical energy to run the car is produced as little microbes eat the sugar.
Unlike oil, sugar is cheap and replenishable. Microbes are free.

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Biobatteries
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=gif::::/sites/dl/free/0078807220/193800/ch23_fuelcell.gif','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (8.0K)</a> A microbe digesting its dinner will liberate electrons. Using a clever fuel cell design, these electrons can produce a small electric current. As long as the microbes are fed, they will keep generating power. For example, an E. coli battery sustained an electric current continuously for three months, at which time the research team got tired of watching and turned the equipment off. At present, the power output is quite low, about two-tenths of a watt at half a volt. Bennetto, however, is convinced that eventually his "living batteries" will bring cheap electricity to places too remote or too poor to be served by conventional electrical generating plants.
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=gif::::/sites/dl/free/0078807220/193800/POWproblem1.gif','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (0.0K)</a> You need to light a standard 2 D-cell flashlight. How would you hook up Bennetto's biobatteries to give you the proper voltage to light the flashlight.
 
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=gif::::/sites/dl/free/0078807220/193800/POWproblem2.gif','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (0.0K)</a> Suppose an electrical device require a minimum of 2 amps of current and one volt of potential difference. Design a circuit of biobatteries to meet this requirement.
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http://134.225.167.114/ncbe/protocols/ PRACBK/fuelcell.html
for detailed information on microbial fuel cells. Clicking will launch a new window.
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