Electric cell is the basic component of the electronics industry and is used everywhere as a power supply. Batteries that are used for large voltage supply are also made up of a collection of electric cells. In this article, We will be going through what is the Electric cell, we will Look at its types which are Electrochemical Cell, Solar Cell, and Electrolytic cell, We will see their working, At last we will Conclude our Article with Advantages, Disadvantages, Applications, and some FAQs.
Table of Content
What is an Electric Cell?
Electric cell is the basic component of the electronics industry and is used everywhere as a power supply. Batteries that are used for large voltage supply are also made up of a collection of electric cells. In this article, we will study the basic primary technologies related to electric cells. We will study what an electric cell is and what are its different types. Later we will discuss the working of electric cells along with their characteristics. We will also study the advantages, disadvantages, and applications of electric cells in real life. We will conclude the lecture with what we discussed. Some frequently asked questions have been answered for user reference.
Primary Terminologies of Electric Cell
- Electric Cell: An electric cell is a device used to generate electricity through the chemical reactions taking place inside it. It acts as a power supply for many appliances.
- Electrode: These are the two metal plates in the cell, where one is the positive terminal representing the cathode and the other is the negative terminal representing the anode.
- Electrolyte: The liquid mixture in the cell that contains all the free ions is called electrolyte which acts as the medium for the flow of charge from one electrode to another.
- Separator: Separator helps any direct contact between the two electrodes therefore preventing any potential shorting.
- Electric Current: The number of charged particles passing a unit cross section in a cell in unit time when a potential difference is applied across the terminals is called electric current.
Components of an electric cell
Types of Electric Cell
Electric cell are a common source of power supply for many electronic circuits. The energy is dispensed from the chemical reactions taking place inside the cell.
Electric Cell Definition
An electric cell is a device that acts as a power supply in an electric circuit by converting chemical energy into electrical energy.
Classification of Electric Cell
Electric cell can be further divide into three types depending on the process of how energy is generated through them. Let us see the three types:
- Electrochemical Cell: In an electrochemical cell, chemical reactions are initiated by some electrical energy. This leads to initiation of a non-spontaneous chemical reaction. These chemical reactions then generate electric current in an external circuit. Some examples of electrochemical cells are Galvanic Cell and Electrolytic Cell. While galvanic cell generate electrical energy by spontaneous chemical reaction, electrolytic cells are non-spontaneous and need to be initiated.
Galvanic cell
- Solar Cell: This is also known as photovoltaic cell. This cell uses photovoltaic effect to convert energy from sun to electrical energy. In order to absorb energy of sun, it is necessary to use semiconductor material to make these cells. For example solar cells made of Silicon generate electrons when exposed to light. Due to ample amount of sunlight, we can use these cells on industrial scale for running wind mills and operating household electricity.
Solar cell
- Electrolytic Cell: Electrolytic cell is a non-spontaneous cell thereby we need a stimuli like electrical energy to initiate a chemical reaction inside the cell. This cell consist of two electrodes in an electrolytic solution. These cells are used in electrolysis especially in industries so that we can obtain pure metals from their ores.
Electrolytic cell
Working of Electric Cell
An electric cell is a device which works by transforming one form of energy to another. It converts chemical energy into electrical energy through a chemical reaction taking place inside it. It is important to see the structure of inside of cell to understand how this conversion takes place. The cell has two electrodes one of which is positive electrode (known as the cathode) and other one is a negative electrode (known as the anode). Both of these electrodes are placed in an electrolyte solution of salts which contains free ions. Let us see the steps involved:
- Chemical Reaction to generate Chemical Energy: A chemical reaction takes place in the cell between the electrolyte and the two electrodes. The reaction are known as an oxidation-reduction reaction or can be a galvanic reaction since it involves oxidation and reduction of metal electrodes.
- Movement of Electrons: As the chemical reaction proceeds, electrons transfer begins. This means electrons move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode ravelling via the electrolytic solution.
- Development of Potential Difference: As the electrons flow from the negative electrode to the positive electrode, this results in creation of potential difference, across the two electrodes. This potential difference also known as voltage is the electrical energy generated by the cell.
- Electrical Current Generation: The energy of cell is harnessed by adding an external circuit to the cell. As the electrons flow through the external circuit, they generate an electrical current. This current can be used for multiple purposes like charging devices, driving turbines and many more.
Advantages of Electric Cell
- They are used as a power appliance for various instruments because the chemical reactions inside the cell generate chemical energy which is converted into electric energy through the potential difference across battery.
- Electric cells are low-maintenance power source since they don’t require leakage checks or regular supervision. This makes them easy to use as compared to other power sources like generators which require a lot of maintenance.
- Electric cells are small in size and are lightweight which makes them portable and easy to carry around. This makes them useful and a common choice of power source for appliances like smartwatches, mobile phones.
- Electric cells don’t have any major hazard associated with them. They can sometimes leak charge under extreme temperature conditions but apart from that they can’t cause hazardous incidents like other power sources (generators) which can be a potential threat.
- They have a strong retention power meaning that electric cells can hold charge for a long period of time without causing any leakage. This is useful for devices that are not used on a daily basis and might need to store charge for a prolonged time.
Disadvantages of Electric Cell
- Electric cells have a limited time span. This means that although they can retain charge for a long period of time, this time is a finite quantity and with the passage of time ,the performance of cell begins to deteriorate.
- Due to the presence of extreme chemicals in electric cell, its disposal is almost impossible. This makes electric cells a pollutant causing environmental damage. The exposed chemicals can make soil degenerate and can also pollute water bodies.
- The condition of cell might alter with weather conditions. This means electric cell can’t withstand extreme temperatures. In case of high temperature, the chemicals in cell can begin to react resulting in leakage of charges.
- They can be a potential threat to infants and kids. Due to their small size and vast application they are almost used in every household. In such case it is necessary to keep these batteries away from children as there can be serious consequences if someone ingests them.
- The charge capacity of these cells fade away with time. This can decrease the overall efficiency of electric cells and make them useless after sometime.
Applications of Electric Cell
Electric cell is used in wide range of applications some of which are stated below:
- It is used as power source for small electronics circuits like mobile phones and smartwatches .This is mainly because of their portability and small size.
- They are used for powering on large scale like in automobile industry where it is used to power all electric cars, trucks and almost all other electric vehicle.
- Electric cells are used in healthcare centre to supply sufficient power to essential machines. Pacemakers ,electrocardiogram machines and some other medical equipment use electric cell as power source.
- Since these cells can store charge for a longer period of time, they are also used as storage material for keeping backup of power in form of batteries.
- Other applications include its usage in operating daily use items like torches, digital cameras, hearing aids, batteries, watch, console, remotes. Electric cell acts as a power supply in these appliances generate electrons for current flow.
Conclusion
As we read, electric cells form a major part of our everyday life. They are inevitably present in almost every electric appliance where they act like a power dispenser. Although they are quite a useful device for storing electric charge yet their ability to store charge deteriorates over time. This can become a major limitation of electric cell since it may result in charge leakage which is dangerous for children as well as environment. This creates the need for searching proper disposal methods for electric cell. This will require some time and some advance technology. Research in this domain is ongoing and developments are being made. Depending on our need today, we can select an electric cell from the pool of options.
FAQs of Electric Cell
What is meant by charge leakage in an electric cell?
The term charge leakage refers to gradual loss of charge in a cell over a period of time. This occurs mainly because of internal reactions that occur in the cell.
What are some chemicals present inside electric cell?
Usually an electric cell is made up of chemicals like Ammonium Chloride, Manganese dioxide and carbon black.
What are some manufacturers of electric cell?
Some top manufacturers of electric cell/battery are LG Energy Solutions ltd, Panasonic, Farasis Energy, Samsung RDI, Sunwoda Electronics co, China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd.