Automobiles need batteries to work properly. Basic actions like starting the engine or switching on the headlights are simply impossible. That's why car batteries are one of their most important elements, and without a doubt could be called "the soul of the vehicle". So what exactly they do and most importantly, how they do it, is what we are going to explore in the following line.
By definition, car batteries are devices that convert the electric power into chemical and reverse. The generated chemical power easily turns into electric via predefined electric generating processes leading to the process of discharging the battery.
In the heart of each car battery are hidden negative and positive plates, placed in a liquid. Despite that, by definition, car batteries sustain multiple recharges and discharges, over time its electricity fades away. At the end, when it's totally worn out, the battery stops functioning - meaning the car won't start at all.
As we said before, batteries need recharging over certain period, depending on the car needs and the climate conditions. There are, however, few universal factors we need to take into account when deciding to recharge our car's battery. First and most important is to remember that overcharging and under charging could have a negative effect on our battery. Next "must remember" element is that the charging current has to be one tenth of the battery's capacity, measured in ampere hour.
With the development of the automotive industry and evolution of cars, it's no wonder that car batteries differ. If we have to pinpoint the most used and widely spread types, then we can divide them into lead and alkaline.
The first one, lead battery consists of negative (gray colored) and positive (brown colored) lead plates, positioned in electrolyte solution.
Alkaline batteries also have those negative and positive plates, but unlike the lead ones, the electrolyte solution is chemically neutral to the material used in the plates. Huge pros of this car battery type is that is not that sensible to high temperatures, overloads and other chemical reactions. Yet they still have some disadvantages - like narrow work capacity, for instance.
Apart from these two, there other types of car batteries used in cars' manufacturing today. They differ in terms of the material used in them: lithium, nickel and zinc.
Author: Diyana Ilieva
