All About Batteries - Dynowatt, Texas

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You carry batteries with you wherever you go, but you probably do not understand how they work. In fact, in our increasingly digital world, we rely on batteries to keep us on schedule, to keep us entertained, and, in some cases, to save our lives. But how do they store electricity? How does the charge go from the socket in your wall into the little piece of plastic and metal in your hand?

Even though humanity has really only been able to take advantage of electricity for the last couple of centuries, the first known electrochemical battery is probably what is known as the "Baghdad Battery." First described in 1938 by a German archaeologist, the battery consists of earthenware, copper and iron parts. When filled with a liquid like lemon juice, the electrons in the metals interact, creating a strong enough charge to electroplate metal.

This is not exactly the kind of battery you have in your MP3 player, but the batteries you know and love do function thanks to the electron flow that results when the correct chemicals are combined. Alkaline batteries (the familiar AA, AAA and 9-volt power source) are packed with zinc ...
... and manganese-oxide. An alkaline electrolyte facilitates the reaction that sends electrons on their way. The battery in your conventional gas-powered automobile utilizes lead-acid chemistry. The electrodes (the knobs to which you attach the jumper cables) are made of lead and lead-oxide. The electrolyte in car batteries is extremely acidic. This helps make the battery rechargeable by the alternator, but it also creates a small but significant safety risk. The chemicals used inside batteries are often quite caustic, which means that they are definitely not something you want touching your skin.

In recent years, lithium-ion batteries have slowly but surely invaded the homes of virtually all Americans. According to Woodbank Communications, a company that provides training in the application of batteries, lithium-ion technology was first developed in 1979 by John B. Goodenough, an American researcher working at Oxford. The technology he created has lots of advantages. The batteries are easy to recharge and can do so quickly, can hold more charge than alkaline batteries and can be chemically optimized for lots of different applications.

Lithium-ion batteries, believe it or not, could change the world in the coming decades. In response to consumer demand and environmental need, all of the major car companies are developing lithium-ion battery systems that they hope will power your next car. The challenges are as great as the benefits, however. Not only must an automobiles battery be strong enough to give the car satisfying pickup, but it must provide a driving range comparable to that of gasoline engines. Unfortunately, cost is another factor. Automobile-quality batteries will, for the near future, drive up the sticker price of the cars. This is the way with nearly every new technology. Early adopters will pay much more for electric cars than those buyers who wait for a few years.

Forty years ago, if you wanted to listen to your battery-powered radio, you had to purchase new batteries every couple days. This was inconvenient and could take a nice chunk out of your discretionary income. (Even at 1969 prices!) In the past ten years, rechargeable batteries have reduced the cost and hassle of bringing tunes along with you. Rechargeable batteries also keep people alive when they are used in insulin pumps and other medical devices.

How does the electricity get back into a rechargeable battery? It is all about the basics: changing one kind of energy into another. The lead-acid battery in your automobile is charged by the mechanical movement in your engine. The batteries in electric cars are partially charged by mechanical energy reclaimed from the cars brakes.

The kind of recharging you probably think about most often happens when you plug your iPod music player into your computer or plug your cell phone into a wall outlet. Lithium-ion batteries take the electricity from your wall, sending those electrons through the chemicals inside the battery, aided by the gelled electrolyte folded into the battery. As the battery is first charged, according to Battery University, maximum charge is applied until the batterys maximum voltage is reached. After that, the charger (whether internal or external) limits the amount of current drawn from the outlet.

No matter which rechargeable battery you use, there will come a time when it no longer holds as much charge as long as it once did. One way to prolong battery life is to make sure you completely discharge the power in a battery every so often before you recharge it.

As we look into a future powered by renewable energy, we will increasingly rely upon what batteries can do to let us go where we want, communicate when we need to and more. The next time you snap your cell phone into its charger, think just a little bit about the interesting transformation being undertaken by the electricity it uses.