Chapter 7, Problem 7.1YT

You Decide The Baghdad Battery

Alessandro Volta is widely credited with the discovery of the battery in the early 1800s. However, ancient artifacts (Figure 7.1) have been found that could have been used as a battery as early as 242 AD. Using the Internet, describe the components and function of the so-called “Baghdad battery.” Based on the critics’ descriptions of this artifact, and recent experimental testing of this type of apparatus, do you believe this was used as a battery, or employed in some other application? Explain your reasoning.

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The Baghdad Battery working function and application has to be explained.

Concept Introduction:

An electrochemical cell is a device used for generating electrical energy from a chemical reaction that is produced in a spontaneous reaction. The electrochemical cells are also known as galvanic cells (voltaic cells).

The standard EMF (electromotive force, $\text{E}°$) of the half-cell is measured against the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) at standard temperature and pressure with an electrolyte concentration of $\text{1}\text{.0 M}$. The $\text{E}°$ values for various materials are available.

A redox reaction is a chemical reaction where both oxidation and reduction occur simultaneously. In a redox reaction, one of the reactants is oxidized, while the other reactant is reduced at the same time. It can be represented as two half-reactions with the number of transferred electrons. They are as follows:

• • Oxidation half-reaction.
• • Reduction half-reaction.

Explanation of Solution

The Baghdad Battery is an ancient battery that was created and using in Mesopotamia during the Persian Empire. It was first discovered in a village near Baghdad, Iraq in 1938. This type of battery is known as a wet cell and predates Alessandro Volta’s invention of the electrochemical cell by more than 1000 years.

Redox reaction: In an oxidation-reduction reaction, the metals copper $(Cu)$ and iron $(Fe)$ react to generate an electric current. When these metals are merged into an electrolyte solution, one metal receives electrons $(Fe)$ which is reduction reaction, meanwhile the other metal loses its electrons $(Cu)$ is known as an oxidation reaction, this reaction is a set of two reactions, coupled together.

The corresponding oxidation-reduction reaction is given below.

$\begin{array}{l}Cu(s)\underset{}{\to }C{u}^{2+}+2e^{-}-----Oxidation\\ F{e}^{2+}(aq)+2e^{-}\underset{}{\to }Fe(s)----\text{Reduction}\end{array}$

 Application: Archeologists found a number of line, silver object such as jewelry that were plated with thin layer of gold found in ancient villagers in Iraq.