Batteries are basically portable storage points for pure energy. When a battery is activated, it causes a flow of electric current to be sent out. This is known as a discharge of the battery. These devices were made over 200 years ago by a physicist in Italy known as Alejandro Volta. He was the person who first invented the voltaic pile, a primitive rendition of a modern battery. The pile was basically a stack of paper that was soaked in a solution of silver, zinc and saltwater. One of the units of electrical circuits, the Volt, is named after the scientist. About 100 years after the voltaic pile was created, the first consumer ready battery was produced. It was about 6” long, and was called the Columbia Dry Cell (1.5V). It was created by the National Carbon Company, which later went on to become Eveready. 

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The Basic Design of a Battery

Dry cells are used today as well. All modern electronic units make use of dry cells from companies like Duracell batteries and more. These are the cylinder-shaped AA batteries we all know and love. These batteries are available either as disposable single-use units or as rechargeable models that can be used hundreds of times. To the electrician, a single-use battery is known as a primary battery, and a rechargeable is known as a secondary battery. All dry cell battery models have the same basic design – they have a positive and negative terminal on either side. Electrodes are internal layers in the battery, with the cathode transmitting positive charge and the anode sending negative charge. The electrodes are separated by a separator. In rechargeable batteries, these electrodes carry the opposite charge while charging is occurring.

How a Battery Creates a Charge

Most of the batteries today are still single-use disposable batteries, although it is true that the popularity of the rechargeable cell has increased significantly since it was first introduced. For the typical disposable single-use battery, the cathode is made of powdered manganese dioxide, and the anode is zinc. For a typical rechargeable battery, nearly 90% of the battery contains different alloys of nickel. Whether they are rechargeable or not, all batteries have a conducting substance in them called an electrolyte. This is what allows the charge to flow through the electrodes without any problem. For larger batteries such as those in automobiles, it is a liquid solution of acid, and in smaller batteries (dry cells), it is a gel or a paste.

Upon activation of the battery by connecting it to a circuit, the cathode and the anode react with the electrolyte. This causes a chemical reaction to take place inside the battery, which emits ions and electrons (positive and negative charges). These flow right through the electrolyte and exit through the negative terminal of the battery. Electrons are what determine the direction of flow of the current within any circuit, and it is usually from the negative to the positive terminal. That is really all there is to know about batteries, and it isn’t too hard to understand it with a little more research and a visual representation of the flow of charge.