Your Daily Facts about Batteries
The first battery was created by Alessandro Volta in 1798. The first rechargeable battery has been around since 1859, when French physicist Gaston Plante invented the lead acid cell. The lead acid cell is still used in cars today.
However, evidence of batteries dates back to over 2000 years ago. In 1938, Wilhelm Konig discovered in Iraq a 5 inch pottery jar containing a copper cylinder encased in an iron rod. This is believed to be an ancient form of battery.
Batteries work due to a chemical reaction inside the battery that causes electrons to flow from the negative to positive terminal of the battery. When all of the chemicals inside the battery have reacted, the battery is spent. When you recharge a battery, you’re essentially reversing the chemical reaction using electrical energy.
The energy used to manufacture rechargeable and single-use batteries is 50 times greater than the electrical energy they produce when been discharged.
All batteries, including rechargeables, eventually die. This is because the chemicals inside the battery degrade over time and with usage.
Since there are no real industry standards for batteries, many terms used by battery manufacturers have become misleading marketing hype. Although the terms didn’t start out as being misleading, “Heavy Duty” batteries are often the least powerful batteries you can buy!
Americans purchase nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries every year to power radios, toys, cellular phones, watches, laptop computers, and portable power tools.
Inside a battery, heavy metals react with chemical electrolyte to produce the battery’s power.
Wet-cell batteries, which contain a liquid electrolyte, commonly power automobiles, boats, or motorcycles.
Nearly 99 million wet-cell lead-acid car batteries are manufactured each year.
Mercury was phased out of batteries in conjunction with the “Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act,” passed in 1996.
Recycling batteries keeps heavy metals out of landfills and the air. Recycling saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries.