Batteries And Cells Views

General Goods

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy.[1] Since the invention of the first battery (or voltaic pile ) in 1800 by Alessandro Volta, batteries have become a common power source for many household and industrial applications. According to a 2005 estimate, the worldwide battery industry generates US$48 billion in sales each year,[2] with 6% annual growth.[3]

There are two types of batteries: primary batteries (disposable batteries), which are designed to be used once and discarded, and secondary batteries (rechargeable batteries), which are designed to be recharged and used multiple times. Batteries come in many sizes, from miniature cells used to power hearing aids and wristwatches to battery banks the size of rooms that provide standby power for telephone exchanges and computer data centers.

The usage of battery to describe electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars (early electrical capacitors) by analogy to a battery of cannons.[5] Thus Franklin's usage to describe multiple Leyden jars predated Volta's use of multiple galvanic cells.[6] It is speculated, but not established, that several ancient artifacts consisting of copper sheets and iron bars, and known as Baghdad batteries may have been galvanic cells.[7]

Within a year, Volta realized the frog's moist tissues could be replaced by cardboard soaked in salt water, and the frog's muscular response could be replaced by another form of electrical detection. He already had studied the electrostatic phenomenon of capacitance, which required measurements of electric charge and of electrical potential ( tension ). Building on this experience, Volta was able to detect electric current through his system, also called a Galvanic cell. The terminal voltage of a cell that is not discharging is called its electromotive force (emf), and has the same unit as electrical potential, named (voltage) and measured in volts, in honor of Volta. In 1800, Volta invented the battery by placing many voltaic cells in series, literally piling them one above the other. This voltaic pile gave a greatly enhanced net emf for the combination,[11] with a voltage of about 50 volts for a 32-cell pile.[12] In many parts of Europe batteries continue to be called piles.[13][14]