How Batteries Work
Batteries have three parts, an anode (-), a cathode (+), and the electrolyte. The cathode and anode are hooked up to an electrical circuit. Electricity, as you probably already know, is the flow of electrons through a conductive path like a wire. This path is called a circuit. The chemical reactions in the battery causes a build up of electrons at the anode. This results in an electrical difference between the anode and the cathode. You can think of this difference as an unstable build-up of the electrons. The electrons wants to rearrange themselves to get rid of this difference. But they do this in a certain way. Electrons repel each other and try to go to a place with fewer electrons. In a battery, the only place to go is to the cathode. But, the electrolyte keeps the electrons from going straight from the anode to the cathode within the battery. When the circuit is closed the electrons will be able to get to the cathode. In the picture above, the electrons go through the wire, light...