The term battery can refer to an apparatus that is capable of generating enough electrical energy to activate other objects such as flashlights, cell phones and cars, a percussion instrument, or is also used to name a set of cooking utensils.
The word battery derives from the Latin verb battuere which means “to hit.”
Originally, the word battery indicated utensils forged by blows later, it was used to indicate a set of artillery and at the end of the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) coined the term battery to refer to “a set of connected units capable of discharging power”.
Battery or electric battery
The battery, also called a battery or accumulator, is a mechanism of one or more cells with 2 poles or electrodes that in contact with a conductive liquid (electrolyte) is capable of producing electrical energy.
Batteries are called electrical because they produce electrical energy through the chemical energy of the ions that pass between the poles or electrodes.
The electrodes contain a limited amount of chemical energy units that can be converted into electrical energy. In this sense, rechargeable batteries use materials that allow reversible reactions for the battery to release and, in turn, accumulate energy.
The size, quantity of cells and materials of the batteries will determine whether the amount of electromotive force (measured in volts) and the electric current (measured in amperes) will be sufficient to be transmitted to the objects to be charged with electrical energy.
Battery and Alessandro Volta
The Italian chemist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) is the inventor of the first voltaic cell, also known as the Volta cell.
In 1800, Alessandro Volta presented to the scientific community a mechanism with 30 copper and zinc discs separated by wet cloths, which would produce continuous current.
Car battery
The batteries in cars work on the same principles as the electric batteries of a toy, lithium batteries of a cell phone or a computer.
The car battery consists of 6 cells of 2 sets of electrodes. Each cell generates 2 volts of energy which gives a total of 12 volts, enough electrical energy to make the engine start, its main and most important function.
Like all batteries, electrodes or poles have a positive and a negative side. The positive releases the energy while the negative accumulates it. The material that covers the cells is usually lead oxide and lead, thanks to its electrical conductivity.
On the other hand, the cells are immersed in 35% sulfuric acid and 65% water, which constitutes the battery’s electrolyte, that is, the substance that conducts electricity.
The French scientist Gastón Planté (1834-1889) is the inventor of the first battery capable of recharging his cells through reversible reactions. Its lead and acid battery dates from 1860.
In this way, the batteries present in most of the electronic devices we use every day, have changed the way we use energy and technology.
Drums
A battery can refer to a percussion instrument composed of several parts or pieces: a box, a bass drum, 3 cymbals and 3 toms. The musician who plays the drums is called a drummer and usually uses drumsticks or brushes to hit and generate different rhythms.
