How All Batteries Work 1: In the Beginning

In the beginning there were no batteries, although the Universe brimmed with abundant energy. Lightning crackled in stormy skies, and you could light a fire by rubbing two dry sticks together. Then in 1799 Allessandro Volta somewhat accidentally created the world’s first battery. Since that day his ideas influenced how all batteries work. We explore these principles further in a series of posts.

Allessandro Volta Did Not Expect to Create Such a Stir

The inventor of the world’s first battery was taken aback by the excitement his invention caused. He wrote later, ‘I myself, joking aside, am amazed,’ according to Australian Academy of Science. ‘Amazed at how my old and new discoveries of pure and simple electricity caused by the contact of metals, could have produced so much excitement.’

None the less, Volta had established the principles of how all batteries work, and they are still evident today. Every single battery still has a positive and a negative metallic terminal, and an electrolyte separator between them. Nowadays he would have patented his device and become incredibly wealthy. But Volta’s only interest was science.

The Basic Principles of How All Batteries Work

Batteries are electro-chemical devices. They store chemical energy that converts to electricity when they connect to a device. Some batteries are single cells, while others contain several. However, each of these are true to Volta’s design of two electrodes, with an electrolyte separating them.

A chemical reaction at one electrode produces electrons. Now electricity is nothing more and nothing less than a flow of electrons containing negative electrical charges. These have an inclination to cross to the other electrode. However, the electrolyte between them prevents this happening.

But we can resolve this by connecting the electrodes via an electrical conductor with an appropriate level of resistance. This harvests the energy we call electricity. And this in turn energizes the phone, starter motor, light bulb or other suitable electrical device.