A battery is a device that produces electrical energy from a chemical reaction. Another name for a battery is voltaic cell. Voltaic means to make electricity.
Most batteries contain two or more different chemical substances. The different chemical substances are usually separated from each other by a barrier. One side of the barrier is the positive terminal of the battery and the other side of the barrier is the negative terminal. When the positive and negative terminals of a battery are connected to a circuit, a chemical reaction takes place between the two different chemical substances that produces a flow of electrons (electricity).
When a battery is producing electricity, one of the chemical substances in the battery loses electrons. These electrons are then gained by the other chemical substance.
A battery is designed so that the electrons lost by one chemical substance are made to flow through a circuit, such as a flashlight lamp, before being gained by the other chemical substance. A battery will produce a flow of electrons until all of the chemical substances involved in the chemical reaction are completely used.
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