How do batteries power our electronics?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay. Today, we're going to be talking about a topic that has been requested so much. Okay. So somebody, A listener named Chandy requested it. Uh-huh.
Melissa:My husband Mason requested it.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:A listener named Val requested it.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:A listener named on Instagram Uh-huh. Requested it. Uh-huh. And just today, I got an email from a friend in real life And listener, Brenlin
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Who also requested an episode on this topic. And that topic is How do batteries work?
Jam:Nice. Dude, very cool. Yeah. I definitely know this. I feel like this is actually one of the We got a lot of requests after we did the solar cells episode.
Melissa:Oh, probably so.
Jam:That's like a lot of people the next thing that they were Thinking about because you talked about the problem being storing power from solar, cells. And then it's like, okay. Well, how does storing power work?
Melissa:Well, let's talk about it.
Jam:Yeah. We left you guys on, like, a year and a half long cliffhanger.
Melissa:Well, batteries are kind of tricky because It's one of those topics that's hard to communicate verbally. Uh-huh. But we're gonna try. I think I came up with an okay analogy.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So batteries, I think all batteries technically would fit into this genre. They're powered by what's known as an electrochemical cell.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's not a cell like what you have in your body. It's similar to a solar cell. It's a unit.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And, you know, maybe you can think of it as like a box in your mind. It's a box or a unit of some kind that's gonna capture the energy released by a reaction.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And that's chemical energy. So batteries, the ones we're gonna be talking about today, store chemical energy.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And what this cell does inside the cell, I guess, not what the cell itself does, but inside the cell, there are molecules that are going to undergo a reaction that give off electrical energy. Mhmm. So the chemical energy will be converted to this electrical energy.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:The reaction that happens is 1 we've talked about before.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:It's a redox reaction.
Jam:Okay. That does sound familiar.
Melissa:We talked about it when we Did rest.
Jam:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So it's an oxidation on one side and a reduction on the other, and what that means is basically just electrons are moving around.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So electrons are moving from the place where it's oxidized. Oxidation is losing electrons, And they move over to where the reduction happens. Reduction is gaining electron.
Jam:Right. Because as you gain electrons, you become Things become more negative.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So it's reducing in something.
Melissa:In the charge.
Jam:In charge.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:More negative. Yeah. Sort of, I guess, is how you could think of it. Mhmm. So I remember that in my mind by the phrase oil rig, oxidation is losing.
Melissa:Oil, o I l
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Rig, r I g. Reduction is gaining. Electrons not charged.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So the Oxidized site is losing electrons. The reduct reduced side is gaining electrons. But even though it's counterintuitive because it's gaining something negative, so it's being reduced.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So that reaction is really just about electrons moving.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Usually, the thing that's oxidized is a metal, and the thing so the thing that loses electrons is a metal, and the thing that gains electrons is usually an ion of some kind. Positively charged, it needs those negative electrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the weird thing about batteries Is there basically, this reaction spread out.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:They separate the 2 senses, the one that's going to be oxidized and the one that's going to be reduced
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So that electrons have to travel some distance somehow to get From the oxidation where they're being lost
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:To the reduction where they're being gained.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And those electrons moving, That is what creates electrical energy.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So it's the best thing I could kind of Come up with maybe would be if you imagine a boxing ring, you know, like professional boxers who get in fist fights When they're on separate corners of the ring Mhmm. The ring is the electrical cell, Electrochemical cell. Mhmm. 1 boxer is the site of reduction. 1 boxer is the site of oxidation.
Melissa:They're kept separate.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And then as soon as the bell goes off there, boom, allowed to interact, and the energy is created.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:So in this case, you have the site of oxidation and the site of reduction. And as soon as they are able to interact, they will Mhmm. But something is stopping them.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Okay. That makes sense. Do you feel like you're tracking with me here?
Jam:Yes. I think so. So far anyway. I think one thing I'm wondering right now, maybe you'll get to later is how to have Tons of electrons that are gonna then go over to the other side once they're allowed to. Like Yep.
Jam:To get that many or whatever anyway, but we'll see.
Melissa:Well, let's talk about it. Okay. So in a battery, you have a cathode.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That's where the reduction occurs.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So in than
Jam:a catheter. Right?
Melissa:Different than a catheter. Catheter is a medical device.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So the cathode is where the reduction occurs. It's usually going to be more positive because it's going to be reduced.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:This is going to gain electrons.
Jam:So before things have happened yet, it is positive?
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And then the negative is the anode where oxidation occurs. So it's going to lose electrons. So it has more electrons. It may not be negative, but usually when you see a positive and negative, I think that's what they're talking about.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So, normally, at the cathode, the more positive side where the reduction occurs.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That's made up of something in your battery, like triple a or double a batteries that'd be made up of something like Manganese dioxide.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the manganese on there has a positive charge. Okay. The anode is usually that's where the oxidation occurs. It's gonna lose electrons. Mhmm.
Melissa:Usually, it's made up of a metal like zinc.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And then between those 2, there's an electrolyte Mhmm. That allows the ions moo to move around. Mhmm. So positively charged molecules can move around or negatively charged molecules can move around, But electrons can't move through that electrolyte. Okay.
Melissa:So Electrons moving is the foundation for this reaction.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And the electrons, you can kind of imagine The cathode's on one side. There's an electrolyte in the middle, and the anode's on the other side.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So The electrons are trying to get from the anode to the cathode
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And they can't move through the electrolyte.
Jam:Mhmm. Okay.
Melissa:So when you plug your battery in, there's a wire in say you plugged it into your Game Boy Color In the year 2000 Uh-huh. When you plug that in, you're completing a circuit. There's a wire that goes From the positive side of your battery to the negative side of your battery, and now wire is where electrons can flow.
Jam:Woah. It's like a detour.
Melissa:It's a detour to get around the roadblock of the electrolyte. And while Those electrons are flowing through this electrolyte solution. Doesn't really matter what's going on in the electrolyte solution. It's just a blocker.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:While the electrons are flowing through the outside path that you created by plugging in your battery, it's creating electricity that will power your Game Boy Color, your Your TV or remote, whatever else you use batteries.
Jam:Wow, dude. No. I didn't see that coming. Like, I didn't see the That being the pathway it goes in that same way, I don't know why. I've never really thought a ton about it because they Yeah.
Jam:They seem so hard to understand in the 1st place. So I just have never really tried to make a hypothesis, I guess, is what I'm saying. I've never tried to make my own
Melissa:Yeah. At all. It is hard to understand In a way, you're like, but how? Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:And, also, why don't the electrons move through the electrolyte? How come the electrons aren't moving through the battery itself kind of you know, there's a lot of questions. But
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:The main thing is the electrolyte is the blocker. Uh-huh. So while electrons are trying to get From the anode to the cathode and they can't, you give them a pathway by plugging it in.
Jam:Right. Right. Man, dude, that is crazy.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:I love that so much.
Melissa:Isn't it amazing?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:So, yeah, basically, to allow electrons to flow for the reaction that so we've talked about oxidation, Reduction reactions, redox reactions, those want to happen usually. They are a spontaneous reaction. They'll happen naturally without us giving them any help. Mhmm. So they want the electrons to move.
Melissa:That's what's going to naturally happen if given a pathway to make that possible. And batteries work by Kind of having a blocker up between the two sides, and then when you have the wire, it gives you a pathway to get around the blocker. Yeah. So the wire happens inside of your electronic device.
Jam:Wow. Dude, that is so interesting.
Melissa:And the batteries die When all of the electrons that can move from the anode to the cathode have moved. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And in those kind of batteries that aren't rechargeable, there is not a process to reverse that reaction.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So once it's dead, it's dead.
Jam:I would guess that is it possible obviously, all lot of the devices that we use can differ Wildly. Game Boy Color back in the year or whatever, and then the Arcimoto remotes now. Obviously, tons of those little devices use the same kind of batteries that have been on for a long time. I'm guessing that their circuits inside of them have a way of preventing the battery from leaking its electrons unnecessarily. Right?
Jam:So, like, A remote just sitting there with batteries in it shouldn't just be, like, dying rapidly without any buttons being pressed and stuff like that.
Melissa:I think that's the ideal. Mhmm. And I would guess that I don't know. I didn't look into this technology. I would guess that it's come far Yeah.
Melissa:In the last 20 years. But I know that Mason has some hair clippers that are battery operated. Mhmm. You know, the the tiny one that just, like, trims up?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:That will drain a battery if you don't take it out. Oh, I see. If it's not on.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Which I am assuming is because they don't have a fail safe. It was kind of a not like the nicest one. You know? Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So I'm assuming it's a fail safe that They didn't put in.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:You know? It's something that they didn't take precautions to prevent that. So you're supposed to store it without the battery in there. And I think, ideally, you would Store things without batteries in there. Right.
Melissa:Not practical for something like a TV remote that you're gonna use every single day.
Jam:Yes. Yes. And not wanting to have batteries lying around if you have kids around. Right. So it's like quickly.
Jam:There's better for the battery to be locked away inside of a little sliding door
Melissa:Yes. Kind of. Absolutely.
Jam:Yeah. Interesting. Man.
Melissa:So that's how batteries work.
Jam:I like that a lot.
Melissa:I think we are going to have to do another episode, and I can't promise you that it's gonna come Soon or a series, we'll have to see how it goes. Uh-huh. Talking about rechargeable batteries, lithium ion batteries, that kind of thing because they're different, but I didn't I wasn't satisfied with what I'd learned about them to be able to present it.
Jam:Okay. Yeah. Definitely interested in that. I feel like It's nice though to get this level of knowledge established first.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Like, this is the kind of simplest version of batteries that Yes. Have been around for a long time we started making it more complicated or something.
Melissa:Absolutely. That's what I thought too.
Jam:Yeah. I like that.
Melissa:Well, do you wanna take a stab at explaining it back to me?
Jam:Yes. And I already kind of Gave away some of my some of the analogy that came to mind for me was, like, the detour analogy, but I think especially that's coming to mind because There's as Melissa has also, experienced the downsides of, there's construction going on right outside of my street right now.
Melissa:It's so weird. It's completely blocking your street. Yeah. I've never experienced.
Jam:I live on a double cul de sac, so There's, like, not that many houses down here, but there is only one way in. Yes. And they are working on the street right outside that of our little section, and it's been very frustrating. But there've been times when I need to leave, and the direction they let me leave because of what they're working on that day is either to the left or the right. Mhmm.
Jam:Regardless of where I need to go. Yes. And so sometimes I have to go left even though the place I want to go is actually much Easy to get to if I go to the right. Right. And so in the case of, say, a battery, you are actually pretty dang close those electrons that are all stored up On the anode side
Melissa:Yes. Anode is the negative side.
Jam:They are stored up really wanting to go somewhere, Specifically to the cathode, they want to go make that positive side negative.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:There's tons of room over there for them. It's so positive. There's like, we've gotta go over there.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:But there is construction in the middle. They cannot get through.
Melissa:Nope. And
Jam:so when the battery is just sitting on in the package or on the counter or whatever, there is no way around. The only way they have to get there is actually blocked. It's under construction.
Melissa:It's under construction, or it's just out in the open, and there's no pathway. Yep.
Jam:But it's
Melissa:bridge is Yeah. Destroyed.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Right. Just like you're out outside.
Jam:Yes. And then as soon as we put those batteries in our devices, it gives those electrons a detour.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And it's it can in some ways, depending on the electronic that we put it in, could be quite a long detour, like, relatively, because they're already right next to where they wanna go, but They can't get there. And so then they're allowed to go through the circuit of the electronic device we we put it in
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Which, as they go, helps power whatever that electronic device needs to do Right. While those electrons are on their way, Still trying to get to the cathode. Yep. And they do make it there.
Melissa:They do. Yes.
Jam:Going a lot of a long detour around. And I'm trying to think if there's anything else you said that I'm I'm forgetting. No.
Melissa:I think that was pretty accurate.
Jam:Oh, I I guess and that some I guess I should say or regurgitate that The detour is an electrolyte. Mhmm. And somehow that is something that they cannot go through.
Melissa:Yes. So they can't flow through the electrolytes, so they take the very circuit Uh-huh.
Jam:And nuts.
Melissa:To get from the negative electrode to the positive electrode, from the anode to the cathode. Mhmm.
Jam:And I guess while I'm trying to remember other details too, should say, I think you said that the negatively charged side is often zinc something. Yeah.
Melissa:I don't know if you need to remember that specifically, but the negatively charged side is usually a metal.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Or the thing that's willing to lose electrons even if it's not Negatively charged
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Is a metal.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:And the thing that's willing to gain electrons is usually A metal, salt, or something like that that's there's room for it to take in electrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So in this case, the negative side, the quote, unquote negative. The anode where the electrons are coming from is zinc. Mhmm. And the cathode that's accepting the electrons is manganese dioxide.
Jam:Manganese dioxide. This one, I could not remember. But that can change out. Those can be pretty different depending on the battery.
Melissa:If I mean, I don't think this would be as effective, but for example, if you wanted to do, Like a rest reaction to power something. You know? Like, you could have iron on one side and, you know, some something else on the other to make to make the electrons slow. It could be, I think, any metal that's willing to lose electrons and any ion that's willing to gain electrons.
Jam:Okay. Got it. To basically have to want the same thing or want different things, but they benefit each other.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly. Yes. You have to be willing to lose electrons, and the other person has to be willing to gain. Kind of like a friendship.
Melissa:You know?
Jam:Yes. Or like a supply and demand situation.
Melissa:Supply and demand situation.
Jam:The economy.
Melissa:The economy. I'm willing to bake cakes if you're willing to Accept them.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:But then exchange for money, the opposite flow doesn't really happen. I guess that's it in the electrolyte solution.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:There's ions moving around. That's money.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:I think we just made it more confusing instead of less confusing. So just focus on the 1st detour analogy. Yeah. The seemingly most obvious path would be within the battery itself, but because of the electrolyte solution Can't happen. There's a detour.
Melissa:So the detour route that you take is through the electronic device and power it. That's a great analogy. I didn't even think of that.
Jam:I mean, it it's kinda funny because I don't know if I would have if there wasn't construction outside of mine. But every day, I deal with it. So it's like Construction and detours are so fresh on my mind. So I guess that's one good silver lining that has come from that.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Many other things have not been very good
Melissa:about it. Fun thing is when you're coming to Jam's house, you have to guess every time If you should come from the left or the right, and it's not even consistent in the same day. Yeah. You know? 1 Sometimes if you come from the left, you can go and you're literally driving through a construction zone.
Melissa:It's very odd.
Jam:Yeah. It's super, super odd. We're
Melissa:going to be
Jam:for it to be over.
Melissa:Kinda side eyes you as you're driving through their construction zone as if to say, what are you doing? This road is closed. And that you just have to Be confident and exude back. Yeah. You're blocking the entryway to a whole street.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. It is very funny. My strategy lately has been to just not make eye contact with any of them. Not because I don't wanna make anyone mad, but it's like, I've gotta get where I'm going, and I can't, Like, wait for somebody to try to make kai kai with me and tell me the way to go.
Melissa:You just have to do it.
Jam:I just go for it, and I'm not gonna run over any of their equipment or Run over a neatly, you know, freshly poured concrete or neatly tarred area, whatever. It's all just dirt right now still anyway. Yep. So I just find the most clear path of dirt to get out, and I just do not look at anyone. I just do my own thing.
Jam:But that's because it's for, like, 3 weeks in on this now. So
Melissa:Yeah. It's very interesting. I've never seen it. Much like a battery, you're just trying to find the most direct path Uh-huh. To get to where you're going.
Melissa:I guess much like the electrons in a battery.
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:You're just trying to find the the best path to get from point a to point b. Yeah. Jam is the electrons.
Jam:Yes. I am.
Melissa:Well, that's it. That's a very introductory lesson on batteries. We've We've both got a lot left to learn. I really wanna understand lithium ion batteries before I share about them with you, but I did wanna share at least this baseline level so we could floor more in the future.
Jam:Dude, I love it. I'm excited.
Melissa:I'm excited too. I feel like I was sort of putting this off because I knew it was a big task. Yeah. And it did take me a a while longer than normal to put this episode together, but now that it's done, it feels so good.
Jam:Nice. Yeah.
Melissa:And I feel like we found a really good analogy to explain how batteries power your stuff.
Jam:Yeah. And maybe with
Melissa:Good job.
Jam:More complicated batteries. Maybe It will still work, and we can add things to it. Who knows? I guess we'll see. But yeah.
Jam:I feel like some analogies are so So simplified and so fixed that you really couldn't do that, but with the roads, maybe we can, like Oh, yeah. Add things on and stuff. I don't know. We'll see.
Melissa:I definitely think we can. I'm Thinking of an adaptation right now. Okay. We're at the next stage, so that's good.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Good job, Jam. Speaking of good things, is there anything good in your week that you wanna share about with me and the listeners? I haven't seen you much. So That's
Jam:true. It's been a couple weeks. I guess the no brainer thing is that We were in Indiana
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:For a week. So we had to record ahead, and that's part of why Melissa and I haven't hung out in a while. We went and saw a lot of Em's family up there. That's where she's from. We've talked about this in the past, but it was a very successful trip.
Jam:We hadn't been in Quite a number of months because of COVID, and we're able to go in September when there was kind of, like, a dip in the cases and allow a lot of Emma's family to meet our son.
Melissa:Oh, yay. That's happy.
Jam:Which is awesome. But then since then, we've had, you know, A huge rise in cases and then a slow decrease, which is great, and finally got a chance to go back.
Melissa:And it feel a little bit more normal because you guys were vaccinated?
Jam:Yes. Exactly. And so we're vaccinated, and some of Em's family are too. And so it felt a lot safer. And so we were really glad that we got a chance to do that.
Jam:We got to see every one of Em's sisters and their families, every niece and nephew, Em's mom and almost every friend of Em's that we try to see when we go Yeah. Back. So, basically, Met every single goal of the trip. Yay. So that was good.
Jam:A lot of fun. It's exhausting seeing that many people in a short span of time, But very, very worth it. So that's the most significant, cool, happy thing that's happened to me in the past few weeks. What about you? What's been going on with you?
Melissa:Well, mine's a lot less warm and friendly and relational.
Jam:K.
Melissa:But mine is cold and friendly and relational.
Jam:Is it can I guess?
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Is it ice skating?
Melissa:It is. Nice. I have been putting off going back to ice skating because they, You know, they their classes are bundled in quarters.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And my last semester was insane.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So the Q1 of the year was insane. The Q2 of the year, I got married, and we're just trying to settle in. We had a few deaths in the family. It's crazy. So I had been waiting until July to start ice skating again.
Melissa:Nice. And I started.
Jam:Awesome.
Melissa:And it just felt So good. It just I love roller skating. I also have a lot of good friends there, but there is nothing that I love like ice skating. Don't know what it is. I think it's the sounds.
Melissa:It's the fact that I'm not hot. Toast is so hot.
Jam:Totally.
Melissa:I have great friends there, and so it just felt really right and fun and freeing and, like, what I was supposed to be doing. I loved it. So
Jam:Are a lot of the friends that you had skated with before still going?
Melissa:Yes. Yeah. Pretty much all of them.
Jam:I have
Melissa:1 friend that is roller skating with us too, so I've still seen her. Uh-huh. But there are probably 3 or 4 girls who I consistently talk to in and out of Skating who are still skating Great. Instantly. So it's very fun.
Melissa:And there's new friends there too Yeah. Which is also fun. So I'm I'll post a picture of me and some of the ice skating girls back at it, and everyone's getting vaccinated, and so you can safely skate together. It's Just really nice to be back together.
Jam:Dude, that's awesome. Very cool.
Melissa:Yay. So I'm happy about batteries, and I'm happy about You know, in a way, ice skating helps me power through the rest of my days.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:So good job ice Skating. So I'm very excited to be back at that, and I'm very excited to have figured out how to share batteries with you guys.
Jam:Dude, yes.
Melissa:So thanks to all of the people who make ice skating possible, and thanks to you, Jam, and all of our listeners who make sharing about batteries possible.
Jam:Well, dude, thank you for sharing that with us. Provocable, something that I'm sure many of us have wondered, and these are the kinds of questions that we love to hear about from you guys. In this case, We heard about it from many of y'all. So if you have any any ideas, thoughts, or questions, things you might think would make a good episode or a good question for our q and r episodes. Please do not hesitate to send those to us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Gmail at Kim for your life.
Jam:That's Kim, f o r, do your life to share any of those thoughts and ideas. If you'd like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, Go to kodashfi.com/kem for your life and donate the cost of a cup of coffee. But if you're not able to donate, you can Still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app and reading and writing our review on Apple Podcasts. That also helps us to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Colini and Jam Robinson. References for this episode could be found in our show notes or on our website. Gem Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to V Garza and A. Colini who reviewed this episode.
