How do batteries give the electrons their energy?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the mechanisms by which batteries provide energy to electrons, specifically exploring the nature of the energy gain (voltage) in batteries and the role of chemical reactions in this process. The conversation includes theoretical considerations and conceptual clarifications regarding energy transfer in electrical devices.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how electrons are energized in a battery, noting that while chemical reactions rearrange electrons, this does not directly explain the energy gain.
  • Another participant explains that chemical reactions in a battery create an electrical potential difference between electrodes, but emphasizes that these reactions are not sustainable indefinitely in a closed system.
  • A different participant introduces the idea that energy in a battery can be understood as a microscopic force acting over a small distance, which pushes electrons and provides them with energy.
  • One participant seeks clarification on whether electrons gain chemical energy and questions how they react to this energy once acquired.
  • Another participant reiterates the concept of a microscopic push and suggests that electrons influence neighboring electrons as they gain energy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion reflects multiple competing views on how batteries energize electrons, with no consensus reached on the exact nature of this energy gain or the mechanisms involved.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the definitions of energy types and the sustainability of chemical reactions in batteries, indicating that assumptions about these concepts may vary.

sodium.dioxid
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
When a coulomb (of electron) flows through a resistor, it loses the energy it gained in the battery. How were these electrons fueled in the battery in the first place? I already know that chemical reactions rearrange electrons in the battery. But this doesn't directly address the energy gain (voltage) in the battery.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
In a battery, chemical reactions provide for an electrical "potential difference" of the electrodes.
If you are confused, remember that these types of reactions are not perpetually sustainable in a 'closed' system.
They work for a while, then not.
 
Hi sodium.dioxid, welcome to PF

Remember that energy is the capacity to do work and that work is f.d, so fundamentally a battery works by giving a small f over a microscopic d that literally pushes on the electron. That is where the energy comes from, that microscopic push.
 
Sorry guys, I meant to say electric device rather than resistor. Anyway, so they gain chemical energy? But what is that and how do the electrons react to it once they get it.
 
sodium.dioxid said:
Anyway, so they gain chemical energy? But what is that
A microscopic push, as I already mentioned.

sodium.dioxid said:
and how do the electrons react to it once they get it.
They push their neighboring electrons.
 

Similar threads

High School Where Do Electrons Go When a Battery Loses Charge?
  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
8K
Undergrad Is the Poynting Vector Field the Only Factor in Energy Flow in Circuits?
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
4K
Undergrad Energy Flow From Battery to the Light Bulb
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
5K
Undergrad How a Battery creates a Potential difference in an electrical current
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
6K
High School Electrical potential energy questions for a battery circuit
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Undergrad An attempt to understand the associated variable conventions in circuits
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Undergrad Video: 'How electricity actually works'
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
Undergrad Confused about work done on charge
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
High School How is surface charge accumulated?
  • · Replies 36 ·
2
Replies
36
Views
7K
Graduate Electromotive Force, Batteries, Resistors, and Potential Differences
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
3K