Scientific Method Urgent Help!!!!?

Question

I am doing a science project on batteries . I know this is something people don't normally believe in, but I tried it and it worked. Now what I have to do is write a report on it, using the scientific method. I'm pasting the document I wrote up below this, please correct my errors or anything I can do to make it better. I need it in less than 13 hours, so any help is really appreciated.

Observation: Two people were lost in the mountains; their only way of communication was their dead alkaline battery. They then re-charged their alkaline battery of their cell phone by exposing it to the sunlight for a small amount of time.

Hypothesis: Can a battery cell be charged by sunlight?

Aim: To charge a battery with the use of sunlight.

Equipment Set Up:
2 AAA Batteries
Voltage Tester

Method:
Battery A (Duracell) & Battery B (Rayovac)
Battery A has the determined reading of 58.0 mV
Battery B has the determined reading of 950.0 mV
These batteries are then kept in the sunlight for a time of Two Hours; there is an even amount of sunlight given to both the batteries. The readings are then recorded on the chart below.

Results:
Battery Type Voltage Held Before Sunlight Voltage Held After Sunlight Change in Voltage Duration of Sunlight
Duracell AAA 1.5 V 58.0 mV 110.5 mV 52.5 mV 120 Minutes
Rayovac AAA 1.5 V 950.0 mV 1080.0 mV 130 mV 120 Minutes

Conclusion:
The Batteries get affected by sunlight. The change in the Voltage shows that the battery power has increased. A battery can be charged if kept in sunlight.

Answer 1

You need to remove the effect of temperature. Most electrochemical potentials decrease with decreasing temperature (car batteries generally fail in the winter, because of this effect). If the batteries were warmer after sitting in the sunlight, that would be a more likely explanation for the increase in voltage.

You probably didn't measure temperature of the batteries before and after letting them sit in sunlight, but you should have. :-)

Anyway, all is not lost. Just point out there is a good solid physical reason for this myth, and your data back this up. Warmer batteries can deliver a little extra power.

Answer 2

What you need is to formulate a hypothesis - something that you are trying to prove or disprove with experimentation or observation.

Then, you need to make a prediction from your hypothesis about how some small observable part of the world will be if your hypothesis is true, and how it would be different if it were false.

Then you do tests to determine which way the world actually is. (Done)

Finally, you write it up, indicating your hypothesis, your methods, your results, and your conclusions, all usually prefaced by a sentence or two summarizing why this is useful to know.

I can't do all of this for you because I would be up all night, too. But you can with your data. What have you demonstrated? Turn it into a question to be answered and show how you answered it.

See the DNA example at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_...

Einstein's theory of relativity predicted that a certain star would appear slightly out of place under special circumstances if light were bent while grazing past our sun. So, Eddington went and looked during an eclipse, and proved the theory (if the star had been where Newton's physics said it would be, it would have disproved the theory). The predictions and observations were published. That's the scientific method. Good luck.

Answer 3

Your experiment had no control. You need batteries that are identical. Expose some to sunlight, some not. Allow the two groups to equilibrate. When they are at the same temperature, test the voltage.

Sorry that this won't help with your experiment this time but it may help in planning your next experiment.

Answer 4

Write a brief intro, what you did and why you did it.
Write what you did.
Write what the results were
Write your conclusions based on the result referencing back to what you did and why you did it.

good luck