Electric batteries


Cells are devices that convert chemical energy to the electrical energy. Battery is a collection of one or more cells whose chemical reactions create a flow of electrons in a circuit. Batteries offer a way to store electrical potential energy in a container. One of the biggest advantages of batteries is that they are portable. Without batteries, our mobile phones would be connected to wire all the time like old telephones.

                         Symbol of battery

Battery has three basic components and they are anode, cathode and electrolyte. Anode is the negative side while cathode is the positive side. Don’t worry anode is positive terminal and cathode is negative terminal. But anode has dense electrons or negative charge carriers in electrochemical cell and thus said to be negative side while cathode has dense positive charges and said as positive side.

Electrolyte is a substance that reacts with anode and cathode and creates a source of electrons.

Construction of cell
The cell consists of an anode, a cathode and electrolyte. The voltaic cell presented here contains a copper electrode (positive) and zinc electrode (negative) immersed in a dilute sulphuric acid.

Sulphuric acid is chemically stable until electrodes are immersed in them. When we insert the electrodes, zinc reacts with sulphuric acid and makes zinc sulphate.
Zn+H2SO4 =ZnSO4+H2
In this reaction, hydrogen ions are releasing. Each hydrogen atom means one electron. Thus, copper electrode becomes positively charged and zinc electrode becomes negatively charged as it has excess electrons in it.

Dead cell
When the anode and cathode of a battery are connected in the circuit, electrons flow through the circuit due to reaction between electrolyte and anode. When the material in the anode or cathode is consumed, the cell is unable to produce electricity. That cell is said to be dead cell.

Types of batteries

Batteries can be divided into two categories on the basis of regeneration.

1. Non rechargeable batteries: This type of batteries is generally thrown away after used and they are also known as primary batteries. Once dead they are of no use and can’t be recharged.

2. Rechargeable batteries: This type of batteries is rechargeable that means they can be revived after being dead. They are also known as secondary cells.

How rechargeable batteries are regenerated?
The rechargeable batteries also produce the electricity in same way using anode, cathode and electrolyte. Here in rechargeable batteries, reaction is reversible. When electrical energy is applied from outer source to batteries, the negative-to-positive electron flow that occurs during discharge is reversed, and the cell's charge is restored.

Batteries are also categorized on the basis of substance used in them.

1. Lithium ion battery: In this type of batteries, lithium (intercalated lithium) is used in one of the electrodes. These batteries are rechargeable. This is the most common type of battery. We use them in most home electronics.

2. Lead acid battery: Lead acid batteries are the oldest kind of rechargeable battery. They have lead in both of their electrodes and electrolyte is sulphuric acid. Thus this type of battery is called lead acid battery.

3. Nickel cadmium batteries: In this type of batteries, nickel and cadmium are used in electrodes. They offer 1.2V terminal voltage. This type of batteries was once used in professional photography tools and radio equipment. They are also rechargeable.

4. Lithium ion polymer batteries: In this type of batteries, electrolyte is in gel form. This is lithium ion technology.

Thus this is all about batteries and cells. Batteries are widely used in remote controls, cameras, mobile phones, and also in some big powering electronics like solar powering units. Batteries were first of all made from connecting capacitors and now we use cutting edge technology to prepare batteries for our applications.



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