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How a Battery Works
A battery is really a portable energy source that is made up of three basic components - an anode, a cathode and an electrolyte.
Anode:
The negative portion of the battery.
Cathode:
The positive portion of the battery.
Electrolyte:
A liquid solution that aids in the flow of energy.
These three components can be made up of many different materials and combined in an almost endless array of shapes and sizes. The choice of materials used and the quality, grade, and density of these materials play a major role in determining the energy levels and performance of a battery.
 How a Battery Works
To illustrate how a battery works and how the components interact, let’s take a simplified battery and attach it to a light bulb.
As the light bulb draws power from the battery, electrons start to flow from the anode (the negative part of the battery) through the external bulb connection and back to the cathode (the positive part of the battery).
This flow of energy from the battery to power the light results in a decrease in the voltage (the energy level) of the battery. In other words, as a battery is used or discharged over time, the voltage drops as the anode and cathode undergo electrochemical changes.
This energy exchange will continue until the anode can no longer give up electrons and the cathode can no longer receive electrons. Once a battery reaches this state, the light bulb will no longer light up.
How long a battery will last depends upon a number of factors: the type and size of the battery; the power drain of the light bulb; and how often and how long the battery is used.
How Long Do Batteries Last?
The duration of a battery is defined in one of two ways:
- Hours and minutes: The length of time the cell runs on a particular test.
- Ampere (Milliampere) Hours: The rate of flow in amperage multiplied by the time it ran.
The life of a battery depends on two factors, the chemical make-up of the battery and how much drain that device puts on the battery.
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