How do batteries store energy? How do they work in general?
In: Technology
It’s a chemical reaction. There are different kinds but typically you have two pieces of metal called an anode and a cathode. Those pieces of metal are placed in a fluid substance called an electrolyte. The anode is made of a substance that reacts with the electrolyte causing electrons to build up on the anode. The cathode is made of a material that reacts with the electrolyte to pull electrons away. This creates a difference in charge between the anode and the cathode. When a wire circuit connects the two, the negative charges on the anode repel each other, pushing themselves onto the wire. This then pushes electrons already on the wire further down the wire. Eventually the electrolytes chemical ability to produce charge on the anode is depleted. The reaction stops and the battery dies.
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