Battery (electricity)

:For other uses, see battery (disambiguation).

History

There is some evidence—in the form of the Baghdad Batteries from sometime between 250 BCE and 640 CE (while Baghdad was under Parthian and Sassanian dynasties of ancient Persia) of galvanic cells having been used in ancient times. Such ancient knowledge in the history of electricity bears no known continuous relationship to the development of modern batteries. The conjecture that these devices had an electrical function, while plausible, remains unproven, as with devices discovered in Egyptian digs that are alleged to be batteries as well.

Related Topics:
Baghdad Batteries - 250 BCE - 640 CE - Parthian - Sassanian - Persia - Galvanic cell

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In 1748, Benjamin Franklin coined the term battery to describe the simple capacitor he experimented with, which was an array of charged glass plates. He adapted the word from its earlier sense meaning a beating, which is what an electric shock from the apparatus felt like. In those days, the entertaining effect of an electric shock was one of the few uses of the technology. Other experimenters made batteries from a number of Leyden jars connected in parallel. The definition was later widened to include an array of electrochemical cells or capacitors. The Voltaic pile was a chemical battery developed by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800. Volta researched the effects which different metals produced when exposed to salt water. In 1801, Volta demonstrated the Voltaic cell to Napoleon Bonaparte (who later ennobled him for his discoveries). The discoverer of biological electricity Luigi Galvani, researched the same effect with two pieces of the same metal exposed to salt water.

Related Topics:
1748 - Benjamin Franklin - Capacitor - Electric - Shock - Leyden jar - Parallel - Array - Electrochemical cell - Voltaic pile - Alessandro Volta - 1800 - 1801 - Napoleon Bonaparte - Luigi Galvani

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The scientific community at this time called this battery a pile, accumulator, because it held charge, or artificial electrical organ. Some early battery researchers called the device a gravity cell because gravity kept the two sulfates separated. The name crowfoot cell was also commonly used because of the shape of the zinc electrode used in the batteries.

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In 1800, William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle used a battery to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. Sir Humphry Davy researched this chemical effect at the same time. Davy researched the decomposition of substances (called electrolysis). In 1813, he constructed a 2,000-plate paired battery in the basement of Britain's Royal Society, covering 889 ft² (83 m²). Through this experiment, Davy deduced that electrolysis was the action in the voltaic pile that produced electricity. In 1820, the British researcher John Frederic Daniell improved the voltaic cell. The Daniell cell consisted of copper and zinc plates and copper and zinc sulfates. It was used to operate telegraphs and doorbells. Between 1832 and 1834, Michael Faraday conducted experiments with a ferrite ring, a galvanometer, and a connected battery. When the battery was connected or disconnected, the galvanometer deflected. Faraday also developed the principle of ionic mobility in chemical reactions of batteries. In 1839, William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, which produced electrical energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen. Grove developed another form the electric cell using zinc and platinum electrodes. These electrodes were exposed to two acids separated by a diaphragm.

Related Topics:
1800 - William Nicholson - Anthony Carlisle - Humphry Davy - Electrolysis - 1813 - Royal Society - 1820 - British - John Frederic Daniell - Copper - Zinc - Sulfate - 1832 - 1834 - Michael Faraday - Ferrite - Ring - Galvanometer - Ion - 1839 - William Robert Grove - Fuel cell - Electric - Energy - Hydrogen - Oxygen

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In the 1860s, Georges Leclanché of France developed a carbon-zinc battery. It was a wet cell, with electrodes plunged into a body of electrolyte fluid. It was rugged, manufactured easily, and had a decent shelf life. An improved version called a dry cell was later made by sealing the cell and changing the fluid electrolyte to a wet paste. The Leclanché cell is a type of primary (non-rechargeable) battery. In the 1860s, Raymond Gaston Plant invented the lead-acid battery. He immersed two thin solid lead plates separated by rubber sheets in a dilute sulfuric acid solution to make a secondary (rechargeable) battery. The original invention had a short shelf life, though. Around 1881, Émile Alphonse Faure, with his colleagues, developed batteries using a mixture of lead oxides for the positive plate electrolyte. These had faster reactions and higher efficiency. In 1878, the air cell battery was developed. In 1897, Nikola Tesla researched a lightweight carbide cell and a oxygen-hydrogen storage cell. In 1898 Nathan Stubblefield received approval for a battery patent (US600457): this electrolytic coil patent is referred to as an "earth battery".

Related Topics:
1860s - Georges Leclanché - France - Carbon - Zinc - Cell - Electrolyte - Fluid - Raymond Gaston Plant - Lead-acid battery - 1881 - Émile Alphonse Faure - Lead - Oxide - Positive - 1878 - 1897 - Nikola Tesla - Carbide - Nathan Stubblefield - Earth battery

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In 1900, Thomas Edison developed the nickel storage battery. In 1905, Edison developed the nickel-iron battery. Like all electrochemical cells, Edison's produced a current of electrons that flowed only in one direction, known as direct current. In World War II, Samuel Ruben and Philip Rogers Mallory developed the mercury cell. In the 1950s, Russell S. Ohl developed a wafer of silicon that produced free electrons. In 1954, Gerald L. Pearson, Daryl M. Chapin, and Calvin S. Fuller produced an array of several such wafers, making the first solar battery or solar cell. In the 1950s, Ruben improved the alkaline manganese battery. In 1956, Francis Thomas Bacon developed the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. In 1959, Lewis Urry developed the small alkaline battery at the Eveready Battery Company laboratory in Parma, Ohio. In the 1960s, German researchers invented a gel-type electrolyte lead-acid battery. Duracell was formed in 1964.

Related Topics:
1900 - Thomas Edison - Nickel - 1905 - Iron - Current - Electron - Direct current - World War II - Samuel Ruben - Philip Rogers Mallory - Mercury - 1950s - Russell S. Ohl - Silicon - 1954 - Gerald L. Pearson - Daryl M. Chapin - Calvin S. Fuller - Solar cell - Alkaline - Manganese - 1956 - Francis Thomas Bacon - 1959 - Lewis Urry - Eveready Battery Company - Parma - Ohio - 1960s - Duracell - 1964

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