Is Electricity Stored in Batteries? Common Misconceptions

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Batteries are in many of the items we use on a daily basis. And why not? It allows us to be mobile without having to be hindered with miles of extension cords connecting our equipment to a power source. But is electricity actually stored IN a battery? In today’s episode of Electrician U, Dustin speaks about how a battery works.

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To better understand what a battery is, let us define what electricity is. Electricity is a function of an interaction of charged particles that we can use EMF (electromotive force) to move current through a conductor. A battery on the other hand is a chemical storage device that doesn’t generate electricity until conductors are hooked up to it. And even then, the electricity is EXTERNAL to the battery, not within it. No conductors, no current flow!
There are many types of batteries- Lead Acid, Nickel Cadmium, Lithium Ion, and more. For the purposes of this discussion, we will be discussing a Lead Acid battery. This type of battery is a container that houses sulfuric acid (H2SO4). It also has 2 lead electrodes in it- 1 Anode and 1 Cathode. One of these lead electrodes has a coating of Lead Dioxide on it that attracts the charges while the other repels them.
When an external power source is introduced (a battery charger) to the battery, a chemical reaction happens, and the sulfuric acid starts to change. The SO4 transfers to the lead electrodes (positive to one, negative to the other) leaving H2O2 as the solution. The leads now become PBSO4 and are positively and negatively charged). At this point if conductors are added to the battery, one on each of the positive and negative terminals, along with a load, electrons will flow through them. But this is all EXTERNAL to the battery itself, not INTERNAL.
Energy itself must be transferred from one type to another to be useful. Take a power generation station. Some type of mechanical energy (a generator) spins on one end and is transferred overhead (as electrical energy) to a building. However, electrical energy isn’t useful until we transfer it into something useful to us. Maybe its light energy (light fixtures) or heat energy (a toaster or a heater).
So, as we can see, batteries don’t really STORE electricity, but rather store CHEMICALS. When an external source of power is applied to the battery, a chemical reaction occurs, positively and negatively charged particles are transferred to their respective electrodes and are discharged through the EXTERNAL conductors when hooked up to these electrodes!
We hope this has been helpful in understanding what a battery is and how it works. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed here on Electrician U? Leave us a comment in the comments section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin Stelzer and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.

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