How Does A Battery Work? Simple & Fun Explanation for Adults (& Smart Kids)
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Date: 2022-12-27
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Comments and reviews: 20
Ken
Hi Kathy,
I realize this video came out years ago (I'm catching up lol) Just a thought. What if after Ben Franklin's time the definitions of negative electrons and positive protons were reversed? Diodes were marked oppositely (maybe not since they seem backward, or at least the schematic symbol is) as were electrolytic caps and batteries. Then, his assertion that electricity flows from positive to negative would be correct. Perhaps it wasn't he who was wrong, but the definitions afterward.
Great videos! I'm loving 'em! Keep up the good work.
Happy new year 2020!
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Hi Kathy,
I realize this video came out years ago (I'm catching up lol) Just a thought. What if after Ben Franklin's time the definitions of negative electrons and positive protons were reversed? Diodes were marked oppositely (maybe not since they seem backward, or at least the schematic symbol is) as were electrolytic caps and batteries. Then, his assertion that electricity flows from positive to negative would be correct. Perhaps it wasn't he who was wrong, but the definitions afterward.
Great videos! I'm loving 'em! Keep up the good work.
Happy new year 2020!
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Rabblewitz
Every scientist and electrician is lying? Funny, I learned that electricity flows from negative to positive in college back in the early 80's. Yeah, the convention is indeed reversed for the reasons you stated, but both in Electrical Engineering and in Physics, my professors made it clear that it was negative to positive. So, no mind blown here. I took a course in Electronic Material (non-EE Engineering course, and bam, suddenly my earlier courses in chemistry made a ton of sense when it came to conductors and insulators. crystal lattice structures and so on.
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Every scientist and electrician is lying? Funny, I learned that electricity flows from negative to positive in college back in the early 80's. Yeah, the convention is indeed reversed for the reasons you stated, but both in Electrical Engineering and in Physics, my professors made it clear that it was negative to positive. So, no mind blown here. I took a course in Electronic Material (non-EE Engineering course, and bam, suddenly my earlier courses in chemistry made a ton of sense when it came to conductors and insulators. crystal lattice structures and so on.
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Recramorcen
I think you got your explanation of the charge flow a little twisted. The Positive terminal is where the electrons physically are, the negative terminal is where the positive ions are; that's the issue with conventional current. So current does flow from positive to negative terminal, but only because they flipped the symbols from the physical reality. The way you explained it gives the impression the electrons are physically at the negative terminal & they're flowing to the positive terminal; which would be the case if the symbols were applied correctly.
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I think you got your explanation of the charge flow a little twisted. The Positive terminal is where the electrons physically are, the negative terminal is where the positive ions are; that's the issue with conventional current. So current does flow from positive to negative terminal, but only because they flipped the symbols from the physical reality. The way you explained it gives the impression the electrons are physically at the negative terminal & they're flowing to the positive terminal; which would be the case if the symbols were applied correctly.
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John
Teachers and electricians are not lying. Convention vs. Reality is by necessity. Too much technology is based on the convention. The math works both ways. And getting something backwards while something else is not can kill you. Current flows from positive to negative. Current produced by moving charges flows from negative to positive. And old tube electronics and motors follow convention. Modern electronics follow current flow instead of convention. Stay safe.
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Teachers and electricians are not lying. Convention vs. Reality is by necessity. Too much technology is based on the convention. The math works both ways. And getting something backwards while something else is not can kill you. Current flows from positive to negative. Current produced by moving charges flows from negative to positive. And old tube electronics and motors follow convention. Modern electronics follow current flow instead of convention. Stay safe.
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Edward
You're overstating the case regarding lying electricians. I was taught about electron flow and conventional current in the 1970s when I was doing engineering science at school. The same happened in my electrical and electronic engineering degree. It's a pity there was this initial confusion, but the equivalence of the two concepts doesn't cause confusion in practice. Take a look at Basic Electricity (part 1) by Van Valkenburgh [Technical Press, 1954].
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You're overstating the case regarding lying electricians. I was taught about electron flow and conventional current in the 1970s when I was doing engineering science at school. The same happened in my electrical and electronic engineering degree. It's a pity there was this initial confusion, but the equivalence of the two concepts doesn't cause confusion in practice. Take a look at Basic Electricity (part 1) by Van Valkenburgh [Technical Press, 1954].
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videolabguy
I got quite a charge from this video. Thanks! In my long career, I have wasted too many hours arguing about current flow direction with fools. For first order circuit analysis, the direction of current flow can be ignored. But, the less education the other person had, the more certain they were that they were right. Youth is an age of information and maturity is the age of wisdom. Conclusion, I am now wise enough to not argue with fools. :) )
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I got quite a charge from this video. Thanks! In my long career, I have wasted too many hours arguing about current flow direction with fools. For first order circuit analysis, the direction of current flow can be ignored. But, the less education the other person had, the more certain they were that they were right. Youth is an age of information and maturity is the age of wisdom. Conclusion, I am now wise enough to not argue with fools. :) )
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Peter
Every Electrician and Scientist is lying? Well Kathy, as an Electrician there are two aspects of electricity 1) electron flow 2) current flow. These go in opposite directions. Electricians are only concerned with current flow, and will install current limiters, current interrupters, current measurement devices and current meters. Not concerned at all about electron flow. As that is our perspective how are we lying?
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Every Electrician and Scientist is lying? Well Kathy, as an Electrician there are two aspects of electricity 1) electron flow 2) current flow. These go in opposite directions. Electricians are only concerned with current flow, and will install current limiters, current interrupters, current measurement devices and current meters. Not concerned at all about electron flow. As that is our perspective how are we lying?
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Todd
I first learned basic electronics in '72/'73 with the Air Force. There I was taught that current flowed from negative to positive. When I got out of the Air Force I attended college for Electrical Engineering. There I was taught that current flowed from positive to negative. It took a little extra effort for me to switch that concept around.
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I first learned basic electronics in '72/'73 with the Air Force. There I was taught that current flowed from negative to positive. When I got out of the Air Force I attended college for Electrical Engineering. There I was taught that current flowed from positive to negative. It took a little extra effort for me to switch that concept around.
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Mymind
Hi
A key neglected fact, crucial
for operation of batteries and for LIFE (electron transport system
in mitochondria) is the fact that pure water is a
very poor conductor of free electrons!
Electrical current in
aqueous solutions is carried
by ions (both positive & negative.
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Hi
A key neglected fact, crucial
for operation of batteries and for LIFE (electron transport system
in mitochondria) is the fact that pure water is a
very poor conductor of free electrons!
Electrical current in
aqueous solutions is carried
by ions (both positive & negative.
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DoubleMrE
One thing I've long wondered about is why all dry cell batteries produce 1. 5 volts no matter how big they are. You know, AAA, AA, C and D are all 1. 5 volts (and I know that the rectangular 9 volt batteries are just a bundle of 6 small -- I believe F size -- 1. 5 volt batteries in series.
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One thing I've long wondered about is why all dry cell batteries produce 1. 5 volts no matter how big they are. You know, AAA, AA, C and D are all 1. 5 volts (and I know that the rectangular 9 volt batteries are just a bundle of 6 small -- I believe F size -- 1. 5 volt batteries in series.
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Thomas
Kinda begs the question: Why weren't electrons defined to be positively charged and protons negatively? Seems to me Franklin did get it right and the atomic physics got it wrong. (Considering they came much later in the game and could have used his definition as a basis)
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Kinda begs the question: Why weren't electrons defined to be positively charged and protons negatively? Seems to me Franklin did get it right and the atomic physics got it wrong. (Considering they came much later in the game and could have used his definition as a basis)
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Yashwanth
Thanks for sharing your knowledge
I want to know one thing so please help me in understand it
If you connect two cell in series then how the chemical reaction takes place and how voltage will gets added with respect chemical reaction
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge
I want to know one thing so please help me in understand it
If you connect two cell in series then how the chemical reaction takes place and how voltage will gets added with respect chemical reaction
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AMIT
Madam,
I have one more query.
Why Battery Doesn't get Discharge within itself, Electricity Flowing from electrode to electrode within the electrolyte and become all neutral?
I don't know. If possible please make me understand.
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Madam,
I have one more query.
Why Battery Doesn't get Discharge within itself, Electricity Flowing from electrode to electrode within the electrolyte and become all neutral?
I don't know. If possible please make me understand.
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Psychachu
I've struggled to understand this since childhood (I'm 30 now, but this actually went into my brain this time. Thank you so much, Kathy: ) Recommending to any other friends who struggle with the, How does it work though? question.
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I've struggled to understand this since childhood (I'm 30 now, but this actually went into my brain this time. Thank you so much, Kathy: ) Recommending to any other friends who struggle with the, How does it work though? question.
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Boaz
I don't know if I missed it but did you show how the electrolyte in the battery acts as a catalyst to force electrons from the positive side to the negative side? That is how batteries placed in series have increased voltage.
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I don't know if I missed it but did you show how the electrolyte in the battery acts as a catalyst to force electrons from the positive side to the negative side? That is how batteries placed in series have increased voltage.
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Shawn
5: 45 lol - it drives some chemists nuts too. There are conferences on the standardization of naming conventions. ie. IUPAC. org
Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be room for that sort of thing on my bucket list.
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5: 45 lol - it drives some chemists nuts too. There are conferences on the standardization of naming conventions. ie. IUPAC. org
Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be room for that sort of thing on my bucket list.
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LanewayGarden
Hi Kathy,
Excellent explanation and succinct on how a battery works. Will use this with my daughter, studying year 11 chemistry this year.
Greetings from Melbourne, Australia
Harry
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Hi Kathy,
Excellent explanation and succinct on how a battery works. Will use this with my daughter, studying year 11 chemistry this year.
Greetings from Melbourne, Australia
Harry
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noam65
In the day, my teachers explained the reality, then the Franklin flow as a convention. They said we could work the problem either way, without mixing conventions.
Brooklyn Tech is a great school.
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In the day, my teachers explained the reality, then the Franklin flow as a convention. They said we could work the problem either way, without mixing conventions.
Brooklyn Tech is a great school.
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Scott
Great information but I intensely dislike the soulful electricity singing at the beginning and end of these videos. Its very disjointed from the overall tone and somewhat brash sounding.
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Great information but I intensely dislike the soulful electricity singing at the beginning and end of these videos. Its very disjointed from the overall tone and somewhat brash sounding.
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Hulkster
Funny historical anecdote: Heisenberg failed to explain how a simple lead battery works during his Phd defence. The examiner of experimental physics, Wilhelm Wien was infuriated.
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Funny historical anecdote: Heisenberg failed to explain how a simple lead battery works during his Phd defence. The examiner of experimental physics, Wilhelm Wien was infuriated.
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