Batteries: Dry Cell, Lead–Acid, Fuel Cell

Also called

batteries · dry cell · Leclanché cell · primary cell · secondary cell · lead storage battery · lead–acid battery · car battery · recharging · fuel cell · hydrogen oxygen fuel cell · lithium-ion battery · Li-ion · zinc anode · manganese dioxide · lead sulphate · electrochemical cell · बैटरी · शुष्क सेल · ईंधन सेल · सीसा संचायक सेल

Topics

• A dry cell is a primary cell: a zinc can is the anode, a carbon rod in MnO₂ paste the cathode…
• Primary cells cannot be recharged; once the reactants are used up the cell is thrown away.
• In a lead storage cell a lead anode and a lead dioxide cathode stand in 38 % sulphuric acid.
• On discharge both plates turn to lead sulphate and the acid is used up, so its density falls.
• Passing current the other way reverses the reactions: a secondary cell can be recharged many times.
• A fuel cell is fed continuously: H₂ at one porous carbon electrode and O₂ at the other, in aqueous KOH.
• The H₂–O₂ fuel cell gives only water as the product, works at about 70 % efficiency and causes no pollution.
• In a lithium-ion cell Li⁺ ions move from graphite to a metal oxide on discharge and back again on charging.

About this model

A GLB file of about 422 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Model, science and animation: Lably (built procedurally with three.js; no downloaded meshes). | CC BY 4.0. Original geometry and animation made for Lably.

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