Have you ever thought what makes your torch, your powered toys, and games work? They need power, which can be obtained from batteries. But have you ever wondered how batteries work? This article will tell you how batteries work using chemistry language. So put your chemistry hat on, because you will enter the amazing world of batteries.

 

Batteries are needed in our daily life, and the system being used to generate energy will be explained to you. To do this, I would like to use the example of “lemon battery” which is similar to the first electrical battery invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A little more about history:

In 1748, Benjamin Franklin had found electricity using a kite and a thunderstorm.

In 1780 to 1786, Luigi Galvani gave much more research on electricity and made people understand how it works. Which helped Alessandro Volta to actually create the first battery called the Voltaic Pile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The principle is simple but fascinating. We use a piece of zinc and a piece of copper. These two pieces are inserted into the lemon juice. In scientific words, the zinc and the copper are called “electrodes” and the lemon juice is called  “electrolyte”. The basic idea is to have free moving “electrons” to flow in a circuit. The motion of electrons in a circuit creates electricity, which in turn generates power. In our case, we use lemon juice as the electrolyte liquid, which is a form of acid. We know that atoms are made of a nucleus and many electrons so they are neutral electrically.

Therefore, when an electron is lost, the atom becomes positive and will be called an ion. Acids have higher concentration of H⁺ ions where ions are defined as atoms that have lost or gained at least one electron, but in here they lose an electron. Zn (atomic symbol for Zinc) has 30 electrons, where only 2 electrons occupy the last energy level. This means that Zn tends to lose 2 electrons rather than gaining many of them. The dissolving process results into ions and electrons and it is called “oxidation”: Zn            +2e^-; this reaction also causes the zinc to become rusty.   Therefore, when the Zn comes into contact with the Copper, Zn loses its. Then combines with the H+ ions in the acid at the Copper surface, forming Hydrogen gas (H2), this is called “reduction”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental Impact

 

There are two types of batteries:

• Primary Batteries: You cannot recharge these kinds of batteries, so you throw them away. That is what most people do in our community.

• Secondary Batteries: These are the good ones, you can recycle them but not many people buy them.

 

One sad fact is that most batteries are made out of lead, mercury, copper, zinc, lithium, potassium, and cadmium. It is a sad fact because most of these properties are very harmful to human health. First, mercury is very bad, because it’s toxic, but they stopped using it because it can kill many people. The worst scenario would be to throw the batteries on the ground and leave it there. Do you know what could happen? The materials inside the battery will go in the ground and then go to the water and plants, which we eat and drink, so imagine if it was mercury everything will go wrong. So we have to make sure to throw our batteries in the trash and to burn it when it goes in the dump, otherwise a huge amount of people will die. A way to stop this is to start using lemon batteries which has the following advantages: They are replacable, they are in huge quantities, and you can find them in any seasons since scientists changed their genes so that they can be found anywhere.

 

Experiment

So if you want to create your own battery, do as follows:

Materials: 2 crocodile cable clips, voltmeter, copper, zinc (galvanized nails), lemon juice (citric acid), and a bowl.

Procedures:

1. Clip one crocodile cable clip on each metal.

2. Plug each crocodile cable clip on the voltmeter.

3. Put the lemon juice on the bowl.

4. Put the metals in the lemon juice.

5. Observe for 5-10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusions:

The copper and the zinc mixed with citric acid made electricity, because the zinc electrons travel to the copper and the copper’s electrons goes to the citric acid to finally make hydrogen gas.