For my brothers Joe and Jim with thanks for teaching me about electricity V C
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER ONE DISCOVERING HOW TO STORE ELECTRICITY 6 CHAPTER TWO DESIGNING BATTERIES 12 CHAPTER THREE THE PARTS OF A BATTERY 16 CHAPTER FOUR CURRENTS AND CIRCUITS 21 CHAPTER FIVE CAR BATTERIES 28 CHAPTER SIX FUTURE TECHNOLOGY 31 EXPERIMENT STATIC ELECTRICITY 34 Solve It Answer Key 35 Glossary 36 Selected Bibliography 37 Further Information 38 Index 39
NASA’s Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 31 2012 while exploring Mars Curiosity s battery runs on nuclear power The battery needs to be able to store a lot of energy so Curiosity can do its job
INTRODUCTION How often do you use a TV remote a digital camera or an Xbox One controller If you use them frequently then you’ve probably had to change their batteries Electronic devices like these require batteries to power them Have you ever wondered what the plus and minus symbols on a battery mean Or how something as small as a battery can store so much power Batteries do two things they store energy and they turn chemical energy into electrical energy The energy stored in a battery can produce light heat or motion Our cell phones flashlights and electronic toys would not work without batteries Beyond household devices batteries can power huge machines like the Curiosity rover on Mars Batteries of the future might even power self-driving cars So let’s check out what batteries are made of and how they work They may seem small but these little guys make electricity available to us whenever we need it 5
