Terminal Voltages of a flashlight cell?

[carnivalcougar]

Homework Statement

A 6V battery us connected in series with a 1.5V flashlight cell. What possible terminal voltages are available?

Homework Equations

V = emf-Ir

The Attempt at a Solution

If the flashlight cell is 1.5V, then I think that it will burn out at voltages above 1.5V. So the available terminal voltages are ≤1.5V

 

[flatmaster]

The question is worded a bit ambiguously, but I think I know what they mean.

In your attempt at the solution, you assumed that BOTH pairs of terminals were connected. I think they are asking what would happen if ONE pair of terminals were touching.

 

[NascentOxygen]

What the question really means is: You wish to power some devices from a couple of dry cell batteries you have. You can power a 6v gadget from the 6v cell, and a 1.5v gadget from the 1.5v cell. But if you join the two cells in series it's possible to obtain additional voltages, not just the 6v and 1.5v, so you can power other gadgets that require different voltages. What additional voltages can you obtain by powering some gadget using these batteries connected in series?

 

[carnivalcougar]

Ohhh... I don't see why they couldn't just say a 6V battery and a 1.5V battery. If they were in series, you could have 7.5V. You can also get 4.5V by running the 1.5V battery against the 6V battery. Are these two voltages the only voltages possible when connecting them in series?

 

[NascentOxygen]

Ohhh... I don't see why they couldn't just say a 6V battery and a 1.5V battery. If they were in series, you could have 7.5V. You can also get 4.5V by running the 1.5V battery against the 6V battery. Are these two voltages the only voltages possible when connecting them in series?

If you have only one of each, that's what you can achieve. Correct.