Lyceum A - Physics - Week 11 - Batteries
- Feb 8, 2022
- 2 min read
Static electricity is energy jumping from one set of atoms in one object to the set of atoms in another object. But then that process ends. The energy it produces doesn’t last long enough to be of any use.
But in 1800, an Italian scientist named Alessandro Volta made a battery. When he attached a wire to the two ends of his battery, electricity flowed continuously through the wire.
The word volt comes from Alessandro Volta’s last name.
How Batteries Work - Adam Jacobson - 4.19 min - TedEd
How Does a Battery Work: (from The Core Knowledge series)
It produces a flow of electrons in a circuit. Think of two buckets of water. One is nearly full and the other is nearly empty. Between the two buckets, attached at the bottom, is a rubber hose that is pinched to keep the water from flowing out of either bucket.
When you unpinch the hose, the water flows from the nearly full bucket to the nearly empty one. It will keep flowing until the water reaches the same height in each bucket.
In a battery, there are two part (two poles) with an electric circuit between them. That electric circuit lets electrons flow from one part of the battery that has more electrons to the other part that has too few electrons. When there is a balance of charges on both poles of the battery the electrons will stop flowing.
From myweego.com:
So, in Diagram 1, the blue electrode is housing all the charge, however, the charge really wants to go over to the green electrode. It can’t just cut across because the separator is there, so it has to take the long way. So, what’s a change to do?
When you connect your battery to something, you’re creating a pathway for the charge to get to the other side (Diagram 2). When the charge travels through your device en-route to the other side, it powers your device. Take the flashlight - when the charge travels from one side of the flashlight’s battery to the other, it has to pass through the lightbulb. When it passes through the light bulb,, the bulb gives off light(duh…)
Once all the charge in the blue electrode travels over to the green electrode, your battery is considered “empty” (Diagram 3).
How Volta Invented the First Battery Because He Was Jealous of Galvani’s Frog - 12.04 min - Kathy Loves Physics & History
How Does a Battery Work? Simple & Fun Explantation for Adults (& Smart Kids) - 9.51 min - Kathy Loves Physics & History
Videos:
Electric Charge: Crash Course Physics #25 - static electricity - 9:42 min
Triboelectric Effect and Charge - 11:45 min - Khan Academy
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