Converting heat energy to electrical energy

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the conversion of heat energy to electrical energy, specifically exploring the possibility of generating a potential difference without the use of a battery. Participants are examining the relationship between heat, electron movement, and electrical current in conductors.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether heating a wire can eliminate the need for a battery to create a potential difference, suggesting that heating may cause chaotic movement of electrons.
  • Another participant suggests using a generator or capacitor as alternatives to a battery for generating potential difference.
  • A participant shares a personal experience of receiving a shock while soldering, speculating on whether the shock was due to heat-induced electron movement or other factors like induction.
  • One participant clarifies that heating does not increase the number of conduction electrons in a metal but raises their mean kinetic energy, noting that resistance does not decrease with temperature in metals, unlike in carbon.
  • There is a discussion about the terminology used, with a participant emphasizing that "electricity" is a broad term and that electric current specifically refers to the flow of charge, which may not always be electrons.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express various viewpoints regarding the generation of potential difference and the effects of heating on electron behavior, with no consensus reached on the feasibility of eliminating a battery or the mechanisms involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the complexity of the topic, including the nuances of electron behavior in different materials and the definitions of electrical terms, but do not resolve these complexities.

hasnainzeenwa
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I'm going to ask a very basic question and my attempt at solving it may not even be right.

Electricity is basically flow of electrons in a conductor, so what I was wondering is if I start heating the wire the atoms will start losing the electrons and everything will be moving in a chaotic way but to get a flow of current I need to provide a potential difference but my whole point is that I want to eliminate the need for a battery so is there any way to provide a potential difference without a battery.
 
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You can certainly use a generator instead of a battery, or a capacitor.
 
There is a concurrent thread about thermoelectricity and the Seebeck Effect.
 
hasnainzeenwa said:
I'm going to ask a very basic question and my attempt at solving it may not even be right.

Electricity is basically flow of electrons in a conductor, so what I was wondering is if I start heating the wire the atoms will start losing the electrons and everything will be moving in a chaotic way but to get a flow of current I need to provide a potential difference but my whole point is that I want to eliminate the need for a battery so is there any way to provide a potential difference without a battery.
I was once soldering with tin some wires to a LED. Don't know how it happened but on the hand with which I was touching the tin I got a small shock. Which means I completed a circuit. Ouch. However I don't know if the current flow was caused because of the heat moving the electrons or because somehow the resistor which was heating the soldering iron touched the iron which was touching the tin. For all that it matters it could have even been that the resistor charged by induction the iron after being so much time turned on. Who knows.

I want to believe it was the heat. Anyway it's just a comment, I don't know how to accomplish what you want. :smile:
 
hasnainzeenwa said:
I'm going to ask a very basic question and my attempt at solving it may not even be right.

Electricity is basically flow of electrons in a conductor, so what I was wondering is if I start heating the wire the atoms will start losing the electrons and everything will be moving in a chaotic way but to get a flow of current I need to provide a potential difference but my whole point is that I want to eliminate the need for a battery so is there any way to provide a potential difference without a battery.

The conduction electrons are not associated with any particular atoms in a metal. They are 'dissociated' and heating up doesn't increase their number - just their mean Kinetic Energy. This is evident from the fact that resistance of a metal doesn't go down as you increase the temperature - unlike Carbon, where raising the temperature does decrease the resistivity due to the increase in availability of conduction electrons.
BTW, 'electricity' is not a quantity. It is just a term to describe all matters 'electrical'. It is more accurate to say that Electric Current is a flow of Charge (and that may not be electrons; it could just as easily be positive ions).
 

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