An Introduction to Batteries!
You would have seen one of these in your lives before. (If you haven’t you’re so not *current*.)
These are all batteries, and certainly not the only types to be found in this world. Batteries come in many many shapes and sizes, and are often classified into...
rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries.
A battery is basically a
- electric cell
- a device that produces electricity from chemical energy, derived from a chemical reaction of putting certain chemicals in contact with each other
When the two sides of a battery are connected by a wire or another conductor, under the right circumstances, a chemical reaction occurs. Electrons flow from one kind of chemical to another from one end of the battery, the anode (-) to the other end of the battery known as the cathode (+). This flow of electrons creates an electrical current that often powers devices in our daily lives.
Batteries thus serve a purpose to provide power by means of chemical reactions (explored later on) to ensure a flow of free-moving electrons that provide electrical power.
Batteries have proven to be very important in our daily lives. These are some of its uses:
Personal Uses
Batteries have powered the many portable common electrical devices around us, such as the iPhone right beside you, your digital camera, and even the laptop you’re viewing this website on right now.
(http://img.weiku.com//waterpicture/2011/11/16/4/Mobile_Battery_For_HTC_HD7_T9292_634655885997895577_1.jpg)
Medical Uses
Batteries have served as an important source of energy for medical devices that need to be transported around to function, such as pacemakers and hearing aid devices.
Transportation
Batteries have long been in use for propulsion systems for over 100 years. They have been providing the power to propel and move our means of transport that we use daily to get to the places we want to, and even more so in current years. For example, they are used to power the engines in electric bicycles, cars and scooters.
They have also been used in other parts of the transport other than the propulsion systems--such as lights, and navigation and emergency systems in airplanes and satellites.
Industrial
Batteries are commonly used for large scale industrial purposes--to power the machines in factories, in forklifts and walkie talkies in construction sites, to allow the absorbing of energy and turning of motorised turbines in hydroelectric power stations.
Importance of Batteries
Why are batteries so important in our lives? It’s mostly due to its portability. With batteries our
devices need not be connected by wire to a power source, and can still work while you carry it around as it uses the power supplied by the batteries. This has proved to be of huge convenience in our lives, even more so with the invention of the rechargeable battery. Costs are hugely decreased as they can be used more than once every time they are charged and they need not be thrown away after single use.
Batteries have also been showing as a way to combat the decreasing supply of our energy resources and fossil fuels. With the increasing usage of electronic devices and machines by an increasing world population, the energy sources used for electricity have been depleting fast. Batteries could prove as the more eco-friendly method as it does not require fossil fuels and help save our Earth, as proven by how governments have been trying to encourage the use of electric cars which function on batteries, instead of fossil fuels.
