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Batteries are something we use day in
and day out. They make the seemingly impossible
possible; they make appliances run without being
connected to a power socket. It is like carrying
electricity around in your pocket. The only catch here
is that the device you want to use needs to be
adaptable for battery usage. A battery is basically an
electric cell that converts chemical energy into
electricity. Some of the types of a battery that we
can't do without today include laptop battery, cell
phone battery, automotive battery etc.
The earliest documentation
regarding electrochemical batteries dates back to
1800. Telegraph systems were using batteries in the
1830s and by the 1870s batteries had found widespread
usage. The 1900s saw the usage of flashlights. The use
of domestic radio receivers caught on in the 1920s.
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An inner view
A battery may
be single celled or may consist of two of more cells
connected in a series. The main components of a
battery are: an electrolyte that may be either
liquid, paste-like or solid; a positive electrode and
a negative electrode. The electrodes produce ions and
the electrolyte is the medium that conducts the ions.
When a battery is connected to a device that needs to
be powered, electricity starts flowing. The battery
on/off switches in a battery-powered device are used
for this purpose.
Types of batteries
Batteries can
be classified as primary, those that cannot be easily
recharged, and secondary batteries that can be
recharged and reused several times over. Zinc-carbon,
alkaline, and lithium batteries are examples of
primary batteries. Examples of rechargeable and
reusable batteries are lead-acid car batteries and
nickel-cadmium batteries for small electronics.
You may have observed the
+ve and -ve signs while inserting batteries into
appliances. These are the two terminals and the
electrons produced in a battery gather at the negative
terminal. They then flow through the appliance to
which the battery is connected, make the appliance
work and flow back into the battery through the
positive terminal. Once they re-enter the battery, more
chemical reactions take place and more electrons are
produced and as a result the cycle keeps on repeating
itself till the appliance is turned off.
Let's take a closer look
at the two types of cells.
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