A battery is a self-contained, chemical power pack that can produce a limited amount of

electrical energy wherever it's needed. Unlike normal electricity, which flows to your home
through wires that start off in a power plant, a battery slowly converts chemicals packed inside it
into electrical energy, typically released over a period of days, weeks, months, or even years. The
basic idea of portable power is nothing new; people have always had ways of making energy on
the move. Even prehistoric humans knew how to burn wood to make fire, which is another way
of producing energy (heat) from chemicals (burning releases energy using a chemical reaction
called combustion). By the time of the Industrial Revolution (in the 18th and 19th centuries),
we'd mastered the art of burning lumps of coal to make power, so fueling things like steam
locomotives. But it can take an hour to gather enough wood to cook a meal, and a locomotive's
boiler typically takes several hours to get hot enough to make steam. Batteries, by contrast, give
us instant, portable energy; turn the key in your electric car and it leaps to life in seconds.

What are the main parts of a battery?

The basic power unit inside a battery is called a cell, and it consists of three main bits. There are
two electrodes (electrical terminals) and a chemical called an electrolytein between them. For our
convenience and safety, these things are usually packed inside a metal or plastic outer case.
There are two more handy electrical terminals, marked with a plus (positive) and minus
(negative), on the outside connected to the electrodes that are inside. The difference between a
battery and a cell is simply that a battery consists of two or more cells hooked up so their power
adds together. When you connect a battery's two electrodes into a circuit (for example, when you
put one in a flashlight), the electrolyte starts buzzing with activity. Slowly, the chemicals inside it
are converted into other substances. Ions (atoms with too few or too many electrons) are formed
from the materials in the electrodes and take part in chemical reactions with the electrolyte. At
the same the battery is connected to. This process continues until the electrolyte is completely
transformed. At that point, the ions stop moving through the electrolyte, the electrons stop
flowing through the circuit, and the battery is flat.

Why do batteries need two different materials- It's important to note that the electrodes in a
battery are always made from two dissimilar materials (so never both from the same metal),
which obviously have to be conductors of electricity. This is the key to how and why a battery
works: one of the materials "likes" to give up electrons, the other likes to receive them. If both
electrodes were made from the same material, that wouldn't happen and no current would flow.

To understand this, we need to delve back through the history of electricity to 1792, when Italian
scientist Luigi Galvani found he could make electricity with a bit of help from a frog's leg.

Artwork: Have you ever made a simple battery by pushing a zinc nail and a copper coin into a
lemon? It works because these two different metals have atoms with different abilities to hold on
to the electrons they contain. The zinc atoms in the nail lose their electrons (blue, e), which flow
out through the circuit you've made to the copper atoms in the coin. This flow of electrons makes
a current that delivers useful power, capable of lighting up a tiny bulb or LED (red). Read more
about how to make a lemon battery and the chemical reactions that power it.

Famously, Galvani stuck a couple of different metals into the leg of a dead frog and produced an
electric current, which he believed was made by the frog releasing its "animal electricity." In
fact, as his countryman Alessandro Volta soon realized, the important thing was that Galvani had
used two different metals. In effect, the frog's body was working as the electrolyte of a battery
made with two different metallic electrodes stuck into it. Dead or alive, there was nothing special
about the frog; a glass jar full of the right chemicalsor even a lemonwould have worked just
as well.

What was so special about the electrodes? Chemical elements differ in their ability to pull
electrons toward themor give them up to other elements that pull on them more. We call this
tendency electronegativity. Stick two different metals into an electrolyte, then connect them
through an outer circuit, and you get a tug-of-war going on between them. One of the metals
wins out and pulls electrons from the other, through the outer circuitand that flow of electrons
from one metal to the other is how a battery powers the circuit. If the two terminals of a battery
were made from the same material, there'd be no net flow of electrons and no power would ever
be produced.

Types of batteries

Batteries come in all different shapes, sizes, voltages, and capacities (amounts of stored charge or
energy). Although they can be made with all sorts of different chemical electrolytes and
electrodes, there are really only two main types: primary and secondary. Primary batteries are
ordinary, disposable ones that can't normally be recharged; secondary batteries can be recharged,
sometimes hundreds of times. You can recharge secondary batteries just by passing a current
through them in the opposite direction to which it would normally flow (when it's discharging);
you can't normally do this with primary batteries. When you charge your cellphone, you are
really just running the battery (and the chemical reactions inside it) in reverse.
Photo: A selection of disposable (primary) and rechargeable (secondary) batteries I've just
gathered up from my home. The zinc-carbon, alkaline, and lithium camera batteries are
primaries. The nickel-cadmium and lithium-ion batteries are secondaries.

Primary batteries

You might think single-use, disposable batteries are rather nasty and old-hat; since we have to
throw them away, they work out expensive to use and they're anything but environmentally
friendly. Even so, they have a major advantage: they generally store much more energy and last
significantly longer than rechargeables the same size. You'll have noticed this straight away if
you've switched from using disposable to rechargeable batteries in something like a flashlight.
Yes, you save a lot of money (rechargeables cost almost nothing to charge up) and you're helping
the planet, but you'll need to recharge your batteries much more often than you'd need to replace
disposables. Sometimes that doesn't matter at all (it's easy enough to have two sets of
rechargeables and keep one set always charged); other times, it's crucially important: heart
pacemakers, for example, have surgically implanted, disposable lithium batteries inside. It's
simply not practical to keep cutting open someone's chest just so you can recharge their
pacemaker batteries! In short, while it's best to use rechargeable batteries if you possibly can,
there are times when disposable batteries are better.
The three main kinds of primary batteries are zinc carbon, alkaline, and lithium. Since there's no
liquid in them, they're often referred to as dry cells.

Zinc-carbon

The cheapest, ordinary, everyday batteries you get for things like flashlights are zinc carbon
ones. Disposable zinc-carbon batteries date back to about 1865, when they were invented by
French engineer Georges Leclanch; that's why they're sometimes referred to as Leclanch cells.
Although they're inexpensive, they don't store that much energy or last that long. "Zinc-carbon"
is essentially a description of how the battery is made: the positive electrode is made from a
carbon rod surrounded by powdered carbon and manganese (IV) oxide; the negative electrode
(the outer case) is a zinc alloy; and the electrolyte is a paste of ammonium chloride. When a zinc-
carbon battery is wired into a circuit, different reactions happen at the two electrodes. At the
negative electrode, zinc is converted into zinc ions and electrons, which provide power to the
circuit. At the positive electrode, manganese (IV) oxide turns to manganese (III) oxide and
ammonia.

Photo: The cheapest batteries are usually made from zinc and carbon.

Alkaline

Alkaline batteries look much the same as zinc carbon ones, but pack more punch: they store
more energy and last longer, which is why they cost more. They stay charged for several years,
which makes them a very dependable source of power. Although they look exactly the same as
zinc carbon ones, they use different chemicals and different reactions take place inside them. The
positive electrode is based on manganese (IV) oxide and the negative electrode is made of zinc,
but the electrolyte is a concentrated alkaline solution (potassium hydroxide). Power is produced
through two chemical reactions. At the positive electrode, manganese (IV) oxide is converted
into manganese (III) oxide and hydroxyl ions. At the negative electrode, zinc reacts with the
hydroxyl ions to release the electrons that power the circuit.

Button batteries

Many button-cell batteries (widely used in things like quartz watches and hearing aids) work the
same way as ordinary alkalines, with similar electrode materials and alkaline electrolytes; others
use lithium and organic electrolytes and work through different chemical reactions. Look closely
at a button cell and you'll see that the top central section forms the negative electrode, which is
made from either zinc or lithium. The outer case and bottom form the positive electrode,
typically made from manganese oxide, silver oxide, or copper oxide. Once, button batteries
commonly used mercury oxide and graphite as the positive electrode, but mercury is toxic so it's
now largely been withdrawn from batteries because of health concerns.

Secondary batteries (rechargeables)

We don't often refer to "secondary" batteries; it's much more common to talk about
rechargeables. Until portable gadgets like cellphones (mobile phones) became popular, in the
1980s and 1990s, rechargeable batteries were relatively uncommon in things like flashlights and
toys, because they didn't last anything like as long as disposable ones; most were either nickel-
cadmium (or, occasionally, nickel-metal-hydride). In those days, by far the most common
rechargeable batteries were the lead-acid "accumulators" used in cars. This a quick overview of
rechargeables. You can read more in our main article on how battery chargers work.

Lead-acid

Tried, tested, and trusted, lead-acid batteries have been with us since the middle of the 19th
century. With an overall rating of 12 volts, they have six separate cells, each producing 2 volts.
Crudely reduced to its basic components, each cell has a "spongy" lead metal electrode
(negative), a lead dioxide electrode (positive), and a sulfuric acid electrolyte. As the battery
discharges, both electrodes become coated with lead sulfate and the sulfuric acid is largely
converted into water, while electrons flow out around the external circuit to provide power.

Photo: A typical lead-acid car battery (accumulator).

Lead-acid batteries made it possible to start cars without the help of a dangerous and dirty hand
crank. Normally, you never have to recharge thembecause your car does that automatically.
The battery discharges (gives up a little of its energy) to help the car's gasoline engine start up,
and recharges (gets energy back again) when the engine begins generating electrical energy
through a device called an alternator. As for disadvantages, lead-acid batteries are relatively big,
surprisingly heavy (try lifting one!), expensive, and can't be fully charged and discharged too
many times. Another problem is their use of toxic lead metal, which can cause environmental
problems when they're dumped in landfills.

Nickel-cadmium

Nickel-cadmium (NiCd, pronounced "nicad") are widely used as replacements for disposable
1.5-volt batteries in things like toys, flashlights, and power tools. They're relatively cheap, can be
charged and discharged hundreds of times, and, properly treated, will last about a decade.

Although very dependable, it's often said that NiCd batteries need to be discharged fully before
you charge them up or the amount of charge they will store (and their effective lifespan) can be
greatly reduced. Opinions vary on whether this is true and, if so, why it happens, but as a rule of
thumb, regularly discharging batteries completely and then recharging them is a good practice.
Another problem with NiCd batteries is the toxic cadmium metal they contain. If they are buried
in a landfill, instead of properly recycled, the cadmium can escape into the soil and could
potentially pollute watercourses nearby.

Photo: Don't throw your batteries in the trash! Some batteries contain toxic metals like cadmium,
mercury, and lead, but all batteries are made of useful materials that can be recycled into new
things. Instead of tossing your batteries away, try to collect them up and take them to
a recycling point.

Nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH)

Nickel metal hydride batteries work in a similar way, but suffer less from the so-called "memory
effect." They became a popular alternative to NiCd batteries in the 1990s, partly because of
environmental concerns about cadmium. NiMH batteries work more effectively in gadgets like
cellphones, which are often "topped-up" with a quick recharge instead of a complete discharge
and recharge (which is more typical with something like power tools).

Lithium-ion
Lithium-ion batteries are the fastest-growing type of rechargeables; there are probably lithium-
ion batteries in your cellphone, MP3 player, and laptop computer. What's so good about lithium?
It's a lightweight metal that easily forms ions, so it's excellent for making batteries. The latest
lithium-ion batteries can store about twice as much energy as traditional NiCd rechargeables,
work at higher voltages, and are more environmentally friendly, but don't last as long. Even so,
they can be charged and discharged hundreds of times and typically last several years, so they're
great for everyday use in electronic gadgets that aren't meant to last that long.

How do they work? When you plug a cellphone or laptop into the power supply, the lithium-ion
battery inside starts buzzing with chemical activity. The battery's job is to store as much
electricity as possible, as fast as possible. It does this through a chemical reaction that shunts
lithium ions (lithium atoms that have lost an electron to become positively charged) from one
part of the battery to another. When you unplug the power and use your laptop or phone, the
battery switches into reverse: the ions move the opposite way and the battery gradually loses its
charge. Read more in our main article on how lithium-ion batteries work.

Fuel cells

These aren't actually batteries at all, though they're similar inasmuch as they produce electrical
energy through chemical reactions. You can find out more about them in our separate article
on fuel cells.