Batteries And Their Importance Essay Research Paper — страница 2

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grids containing pockets. The positive plates pockets are filled with a paste of lead dioxide (PbO2). The negative plates are filled with spongy lead (Pb). Both plates are immersed in a solution of sulfuric acid, this acts as the electrolyte. When the battery is in use, the lead atoms in the negative plates lose electrons and become lead ions (Pb++). These ions combine with the electrolyte to form a white coating of lead sulfate on the negative plate. Pb++ + SO4- PbSO4 When the electrons make through the load and arrive on the positive pole they form a white coating of lead sulfate on the positive plate also. The coat of lead sulfate makes the battery less efficient. When an outside current is applied the reaction happens backwards, changing the lead sulfate coating on each plate

to lead and lead dioxide. After this the battery is recharged. Lead-acid storage Another widely used secondary cell is the alkaline cell, which was invented by the American, Thomas Edison in the 1900 s. It works similar to the lead-acid battery, but it is much smaller. A disadvantage is that the battery loses a little bit of capacity each time it is charged. In recent years a number of new types of batteries have been designed for use in electric vehicles and other applications. In improving various conventional storage batteries, they have been able to make electric cars and longer lasting batteries. Still there exits some draw backs to these batteries, either short range, high expense, bulkiness, or environmental problems. The U.S Advanced Battery Consortion (USADC) was set up

in 1991 to speed up development of new storage batteries. Batteries are being developed that cause no environmental hazards and occupy little space. All this advancement in batteries is wonderful, but we need to see the importance batteries play in the world today. The world is dependent on the battery, from the use in cars to calculators. The battery is one of the few sources of energy that is universal, a Japanese calculator can still work with batteries found in the U.S no electric conversion is needed. This is reason why the battery is so needed and important to the world.