Car batteries are vital for providing and storing the electrical energy needed for fuel ignition and to power the electronics in your car. As vehicles have become more sophisticated, a reliable source of electrical power for your car has become even more vital.
Car batteries make use of what are known as electrochemical reactions to produce a charge. The battery in a typical car makes use of a lead acid cells. This actually amongst the oldest battery technologies known, having been invented in in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Plante. This technology is still in use today in 90% of car batteries because of its reliability, low cost, and its ability to be recharged many times. In a lead acid cell, there is one plate made of lead and another made of lead dioxide, both immersed in a strong solution of sulfuric acid. The lead combines with SO4 or sulfate, forming PbSO4 or lead sulfate, as well as one electron. Meanwhile, lead dioxide, ions of hydrogen and sulfate ions, with electrons from the lead plate, create lead sulfate and water on the lead dioxide plate. As the batter releases its charge, both plates build up lead sulfate and water builds up in this acid. (This, incidentally, is why batteries occasionally need to have new acid added if they are in use long enough) Each cell will typically produce about 2 volts, so in the usual 12 volt car battery there will be six cells. What gives the car battery the ability to be recharged a multitude of times is the reversible nature of the reaction-when current is applied to the poles of the batteries, lead and lead dioxide form again on the plates.
Your battery is continuously recharged while driving by your car’s alternator, which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. If the alternator on your car fails, it will still run by drawing on the battery…but not for long, as the power needs of the spark plugs and the many electrical components of a modern car will quickly deplete it.
One of the most common problems for batteries is the build of up lead oxide on the poles and leads and cupric oxide on the cables themselves. Ironically, while lead and copper are both excellent conductors of electricity, oxides of these metals are excellent insulators. If one morning you turn the key on your car and it does nothing or simply producing a click, it is likely that your battery poles, leads, or cables simply need a good cleaning to remove built up oxides and allow good electrical contact to be made again.
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