-2
$\begingroup$

So in episode 23 of the anime dr. Stone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faQ2EVj7SrQ a character named gen was making zinc carbon batteries by using manganese and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t manganese dioxide, just elemental manganese. He put the manganese directly on a zinc sheet and wrapped it around it leaving the top open, and then inserted a carbon rod and covered the rest of the manganese with a ring of something and added what i think is some adhesive on that ring to keep the manganese from falling out, at least that is what I understood.

Is this what he actually does or did I get something wrong?

Will it work?

Can zinc carbon batteries work using manganese instead of manganese dioxide?

Usually there has to be some sort of insulation between the zinc and manganese right? He didn’t, he put the manganese directly on the zinc, would it work? Regardless of whether it was manganese or manganese dioxide, would it work without any insulation?

And there was no electrolyte, would it work without it? And if not, does the electrolyte have to be ammonium chloride or can i use any thing else like sodium chloride?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
8
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Why have you thrown out of the window everything you know while watching it? Think what is in the zinc-carbon battery, why it is there and what happens if it is not there. $\endgroup$
    – Poutnik
    Sep 21 at 14:24
  • $\begingroup$ @Poutnik I know that in normal zinc carbon batteries zinc is the anode and gets oxidised while manganese dioxide gets reduced and carbon plays as a cathode but doesn’t get involved in the reaction, not sure if it would work with elemental manganese. And not really sure about the electrolytes either, that’s why I asked $\endgroup$
    – Jay
    Sep 21 at 16:18
  • $\begingroup$ Contact of 2 metals can provide several mV of contact potential at the best. $\endgroup$
    – Poutnik
    Sep 21 at 16:20
  • $\begingroup$ @Poutnik so you mean that without insulting the manganese and the zinc not much sufficient voltage would be generated ? $\endgroup$
    – Jay
    Sep 21 at 16:47
  • $\begingroup$ You could make a thermopile with Zn and Mn in contact at ends, but if in direct contact along edge, this is called a short circuit, with virtually no voltage across it. Some cartoons went to effort for accuracy, but not that, if you're reporting correctly. $\endgroup$
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Sep 21 at 17:08

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1
$\begingroup$

For a battery to work, there has to be a chemical reaction.

If the battery is made of zinc, manganese, and carbon, these do not react with each other. So not only is this not a working battery, it's not even a working hot pack.

If the "manganese" is actually manganese dioxide (that's what it looks like in the video), it would be able to oxidize zinc, and a reaction could occur. However, the reaction can only occur at the $\ce{Zn}$/$\ce{MnO2}$ interface, producing boring old heat. Electrons can't be pushed down a wire to do useful work, because that would create a charge imbalance between the anode and cathode. Without an electrolyte, there is no way for ions to flow to fix that imbalance.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
-1
$\begingroup$

Without any medium for ions to flow such as an electrolyte that seems to be missing, electrons won't move.

On the other hand, if elemental manganese was there, there is absolutely no chance of any reaction to occur as zinc and manganese don't directly react, which is obviously needed. If Manganese dioxide ($\ce{MnO2}$) is used, then only heat will be liberated which is not what a battery is made for.

There is some effort here to make it seem like an actual battery but unfortunately, it's not and thus these can't be made.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.